A  I  ulpit  (Commentary 


ON 


Cxatholic    1  caching 


A   COMPLETE   EXPOSITION   OF 


CATHOLIC  DOCTRINE,  DISCIPLINE  AND  CULT 


ORIGINAL   DISCOURSES 


VOL.  I 
THE  CREED 


NEW  YORK 

JOSEPH  F.  WAGNER 


iltfiil  ©fastat 

REMIGIUS  LAFORT,  S.T.L. 

Censor 

imprimatur 

*JOHN  M    FARLEY,  D.D. 

Archbishop  of  New  York 


NEW  YORK,  SEPTEMBER  8,  1907 


Copyright,  1908,  by  JOSEPH  F.  WAGNER,  New  York 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 
I.     THE  CALL  OF  ALL  MEN  TO  RELIGION. 

By  the  Right  Rev.  James  Bellord,  D.D 7 

II.     INSUFFICIENCY  OF   REASON   IN   MATTERS  OF   RELIGION. 

By  the   Rev.   Timothy   P.    Holland 16 

III.  TRUE  BELIEF  THE  WAY  TO  GOOD  LIFE. 

By  the  Right  Rev.  James  Bellord,  D.D 25 

IV.  IS  THERE  A  GOD?  IS  THERE  ONLY  ONE  GOD? 

By  the  Rev.  P.   A.  Halpin 34 

V.     THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD. 

By  the  Rev.  F.  Harvey 41 

VI.     THE    PROVIDENCE   OF    GOD. 

By  the  Rev.   Thomas  J.    Gerrard 5° 

VII.     THE  HOLY  TRINITY. 

By  the  Right  Rev.  Mgr.  Canon  John  S.  Vaughan 58 

VIII.     OBSCURITY    OF    RELIGIOUS   MYSTERIES. 

By  the  Right  Rev.  James  Bellord,  D.D 68 

IX.     GOD,  THE  FATHER  AND  CREATOR. 

By  the  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Gerrard 76 

X.  THE  ANGELS;  GOOD  AND  BAD  ANGELS;  GUARDIAN  ANGELS. 

By  the  Rev.   H.  G.   Hughes 84 

XI.     THE  CREATION  OF  MAN. 

By  the  Rev.  John  W.   Sullivan 94 

XII.     THE    IMMORTALITY    OF    THE    SOUL. 

By  the  Rev.  Dr.  C.  Bruehl 102 

XIIL     THE    SECOND    PERSON;    TRUE    GOD. 

By  the  Rev.  H.   G.  Hughes 1 13 

XIV.     THE    INCARNATION. 

By  the  Rev.  Thomas  F.  Burke,  C.S.P 123 

XV.     THE    IMMACULATE    CONCEPTION. 

By  the  Rev.  J.  H.  Stapleton 132 

XVI.     CHRIST,    THE    TRUE    MESSIAS. 

By  the  Rev.   Bertrand  L.  Conway,   C.S.P 140 

XVII.     THE  PASSION  AND  DEATH  OF  OUR  LORD. 

By  the   Rev.   William   Graham 147 

XVIII.     THE    RESURRECTION    AND    ASCENSION. 

By  the  Rev.  William  Graham 154 

XIX.     THE  JUDGMENT    (SECOND   COMING  OF  OUR  LORD). 

By  the  Rev.  William  Graham 161 

XX.     THE    FRUITS    OF    THE    SACRED    PASSION. 

By  the  Rev.  William  Graham 167 

XXI.     THE   THIRD  PERSON;   TRUE  GOD. 

By  the   Rev.  Thomas  J.   Gerrard 173 

XXII.    THE  CHURCH. 

By  the   Rev.   F.   Harvey 181 

XXIII.  THE  INCOMPLETENESS  OF  REVELATION. 

By  the   Right  Rev.  James   Bellord,  D.D 189 

XXIV.  THE  UNITY  OF  TRUE  RELIGION;  OR,  IS  ONE  RELIGION  AS 

GOOD  AS  ANOTHER? 

By  the  Right  Rev.  James  Bellord,  D.D 198 

XXV.     OUT  OF  THE  CHURCH,  NO  SALVATION.     I. 

By  the  Right   Rev.  James  Bellord,   D.D 209 

XXVI.     OUT  OF  THE  CHURCH,  NO  SALVATION.     II. 

By  the  Right  Rev.  James  Bellord,  D.D 218 


j  CONTENTS 

PAGE 

XXVII.     IS    THE    CHURCH    INTOLERANT? 

By  the   Rev.   P.   A.   Halpin 228 

XXVIII.    THE  VISIBLE  HEAD  OF  THE  CHURCH;   HIS  OFFICE. 

By   the   Rev.   J.   H.    Stapleton 235 

XXIX.     INFALLIBILITY    OF   THE    CHURCH   AND    OF    THE    POPE. 

By  the  Rev.  H.   G.  Hughes 243 

XXX.    THE  PRIESTHOOD:  ITS  THREEFOLD  OFFICE. 

By  the  Rev.  Thomas  J.  Gerrard 255 

XXXI.  THE  PROPAGATION  AND  PRESERVATION  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

By  the  Rev.  John  Freeland 264 

XXXII.     SUBMISSION    TO    RELIGIOUS    AUTHORITY. 

By  the  Right  Rev.  James  Bellord,   D.D 273 

XXXIII.  THE   COMMUNION    OF    SAINTS. 

By  the  Rev.  Bertrand  L.  Conway,  C.S.P. 283 

XXXIV.  THE  REMISSION  OF  SINS. 

By  the  Rev.   Dr.  C.   Bruehl aga 

XXXV.    THE    RESURRECTION    OF   THE    BODY. 

By  the  Rev.  John  Freeland 300 

XXXVI.     IS    THERE   A   HEREAFTER? 

By  the  Right  Rev.  Mgr.  Canon  John  S.  Vaughan 310 

XXXVII.     HEAVEN. 

By  the  Rev.  Bertrand  L.  Conway,  C.S.P * 318 

XXXVIII.    PURGATORY. 

By  the  Rev.  John  Freeland 326 

XXXIX.     HELL. 

By  the  Right  Rev.  James   Bellord,  D.D 333 

XL.     THE  DANGER  OF  DAMNATION. 

By  the  Right  Rev.  James  Bellord,  D.D 340 

XLI.    PREDESTINATION  AND    REPROBATION. 

By  the  Right  Rev.  James  Bellord,  D.D 349 

XLII.    DOES    THE    CHURCH    TEACH    THE    END    JUSTIFIES    THE 
MEANS? 

By  the  Rev.  P.  A.   Halpin 357 

XLIII.    ON   MIRACLES. 

By  the  Right  Rev.  Mgr.  Canon  John  S.  Vaughan 365 

XLIV.    ON    THE    REFORMATION    AND    THE    INQUISITION. 

By  the  Rev.  John  Freeland 373 

XLV.     SECRET  SOCIETIES.     FORBIDDEN  BOOKS. 

By  the  Rev.  John  W.   Sullivan 382 

XLVI.     SOCIALISM  AND    CHRISTIANITY. 

By  the  Right  Rev.  James  Bellord,  D.D 393 

XLVII.     SUPERSTITION  IN   PRACTICES   OF  FAITH. 

By  the  Rev.  Thomas  F.  Burke,  C.S.P 400 

XLVIII.    THE  UNIVERSAL  FITNESS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

By  the  Right  Rev.  James  Bellord,  D.D 406 

XLIX.  THE  CHURCH  AND  MODERN  PROGRESS. 

By  the  Right  Rev.  James  ,Bellord,  D.D 416 

L.    HUMAN  RESPECT   AND   PERSECUTION. 

By  the  Rev.   H.  G.  Hughes 425 

LL     CHRISTIANITY,    THE   SOURCE   OF   CIVILIZATION. 

By  the  Right  Rev.  James  Bellord,  D.D 433 

LII.  CATHOLICS,  THE  SALT  OF  THE  EARTH. 

By   the    Right   Rev.    James   Bellord,    D.D 443 

LIII.    LOYALTY  TO  THE  CHURCH. 

By  the  Rev.  P.  A.  Halpin 450 


EDITOR'S  NOTE 


Encyclical  of  His  Holiness,  Pius  X,  in  which  he  so 
strongly  insists  upon  Catechising  as  one  of  the  chief  duties  of 
the  priesthood,  has  induced  the  publication  of  this  Series.  Our  aim 
has  been  to  prepare  for  the  priest  and  for  the  catechist  a  storehouse 
of  well-digested  thought  from  which  may  be  drawn  inspiration  as 
well  as  spiritual  food. 

Here  are  to  be  found  assembled,  carefully  and  forcefully  devel- 
oped and  aptly  illustrated  and  applied,  the  arguments,  sanctioned 
by  the  Church  and  tested  by  experience,  which  form  necessarily 
the  essential  part  of  the  definition  and  defense  of  Christian  doctrine. 

While  a  carefully  prepared  plan  has  been  followed  through- 
out, we  feel  that  the  attractiveness  of  the  Series,  no  less  than 
its  value,  are  greatly  enhanced  by  the  fact  that  herein  one  comes 
in  touch  with  the  efforts  of  many  widely  known  writers  and 
preachers  of  our  day,  thus  assuring  to  the  work  a  great  variety  of 
form,  literary  style,  and  oratorical  methods. 

It  is  expected  that  these  volumes  will  be  found  of  value  not  only 
for  ready  reference  on  points  of  Christian  doctrine,  but  also  as  mat- 
ter for  spiritual  reading  in  religious  houses,  and  in  presenting  points 
for  daily  meditation,  which  is  well  recognized  as  a  practical,  if 
remote,  method  of  preparation  for  the  sacerdotal  duty  of  catechising. 

The  Series  will  comprise  four  volumes,  dealing  in  turn  with 
the  Creed,  the  Commandments,  the  Means  of  Grace,  and,  the 
Liturgy  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Year,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  arrange- 
ment of  matter,  as  well  as  the  completeness  of  treatment,  will  go 
far  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  hour  in  this  field. 


AN  EXPOSITION  AND  DEFENSE  OF  CATHOLIC 

TEACHING. 

Vol.  I.    The  Creed. 


I.  THE  CALL  OF  ALL  MEN  TO  RELIGION. 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REV.  JAMES  BELLORD,  D.D. 

"A  certain  man  made  a  great  supper  and  invited  many.  .  .  .  And  the 
lord  said  .  .  .  compel  them  to  come  in,  that  my  house  may  be  filled." — 
Luke  xiv.  16,  23. 

SYNOPSIS.— The  parable  of  the  supper  illustrates  the  call  of  all  men  to 
religion.  Religion  an  essential  want  of  the  soul.  This  is  proved  (i)  by  a 
consideration  of  man's  make-up,  his  various  faculties,  social  needs,  etc., 
(2)  by  the  universality  of  religion. 

Objection.— Some  men  seem  to  live  without  religion.  This  is  an 
abnormal  condition  and  easily  accounted  for.  Example — Ashes  in  subter- 
ranean cavities  without  eyes.  The  guests  were  called  but  would  not 
come. 

Reason  why  men  neglect  the  call,  (i)  worldliness,  (2)  external  oc- 
cupations, temporal  gifts.  Examples — (a)  Greeks,  (b)  Romans.  The 
poor  always  responsive  to  the  call  of  God. 

Conclusion. — The  benefits  of  religion,  (i)  to  the  soul,  (2)  to  the 
world. 

The  parable  of  the  supper  teaches  us  great  lessons  which  we  may 
apply  to  Our  Lord's  dealings  with  mankind  in  His  own  day  and  in 
this  of  ours.  It  treats  of  the  call  of  God  to  all  men ;  of  the  classes 
who  are  predisposed  respectively  to  be  religious  and  irreligious ;  of 
the  motives  that  cause  men  to  live  without  religion  and  to  oppose  it. 

I.  We  come  across  many  men  in  life  who  seem  to  be  absolutely  de- 
void of  the  religious  sense,  and  to  be  incapable  of  religion.  They 
seem  to  have  no  attraction  to  it,  to  feel  no  want  of  it.  These  are  not 
a  few  casual  individuals  but  large  classes.  Sometimes,  even  the  ma- 
jority of  a  community  or  a  nation,  or  of  those  who  live  at  a  certain 
time,  appear  to  be  affected  in  this  way.  The  suggestion  that  arises 
and  is  adopted  by  many  is  this:  that  religion  is  not  a  thing  for  all 
men,  but  the  product  of  certain  external  conditions  of  inherited  char- 
acter, of  special  education,  of  a  particular  stage  in  the  development 
of  civilization.  Many  would  consider  that  it  is  a  sort  of  cultivated,  or 
rather  uncultured  taste,  existing  in  some  men  and  not  in  others,  like 
having  an  eye  for  form  and  color  or  an  ear  for  music ;  and  that  it  is 
neither  praiseworthy  nor  blameworthy  to  have  it  or  to  be  without 
it.  This  we  shall  now  take  into  consideration. 

Our  text  and  many  others  throughout  the  New  Testament  bear 


8  THE  CREED. 

witness  to  the  falsehood  of  these  views.  Many  are  called,  in  fact 
all  are  called  in  one  way  or  other,  at  one  time  or  other,  to  the  ban- 
quet of  the  great  King.  All  men  are  God's  children,  made  in  His 
image  and  likeness,  the  object  of  His  eternal  love,  destined  to 
thrones  of  future  glory.  The  means  and  the  strength  required  for 
that  end  are  placed  in  the  hands  of  all,  although  in  different  propor- 
tions. All  men  have  access  to  truth  and  a  call  to  holiness  and  sal- 
vation. The  Son  of  God  did  not  die  for  one  nation,  or  for  one 
class,  but  for  all  mankind.  He  wishes  all  to  be  saved  and  to  come 
to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth ;  He  wills  not  the  death  even  of  the 
sinner,  but  rather  that  he  be  converted  and  live.  There  is  an  order 
and  a  variety  in  God's  calls.  The  Jews  were  called  the  first,  and  in 
the  old  times  had  special  privileges  of  knowledge  and  divine  favor 
beyond  all  other  nations.  In  the  New  Testament  they  received  the 
vocation  to  the  faith  before  the  Gentiles,  but  not  to  their  exclusion. 
Individual  men  are  called,  sometimes  from  their  infancy,  sometimes 
not  till  old  age.  A  man  may  be  long  in  darkness,  in  invincible  ignor- 
ance of  religion,  in  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death.  But  at  last 
the  hour  sounds,  the  summons  of  Christ  makes  itself  heard  to  him, 
the  light  which  enlighteneth  every  man  reveals  to  him  the  path  to 
faith  and  justification,  which  he  may  follow  if  he  will. 

Religion  has  no  varying  and  accidental  relation  to  the  minds  and 
consciences  of  mankind.  It  is  one  of  the  essential  wants  of  the  soul, 
answering  to  its  deepest,  most  spontaneous,  and  universal  cravings. 
Religion  is  one  of  the  most  prominent  facts  in  the  history  of  hu- 
manity, in  every  stage  from  barbarism  up  to  the  highest  refinement. 
Each  element  in  religion  meets  a  corresponding  want  in  human 
nature. 

There  is  a  craving  in  the  human  soul  for  truth,  as  universal  as  the 
craving  for  bodily  nutriment.  And  so  soon  as  the  faculties  are  re- 
lieved from  the  strain  caused  by  want  and  the  struggle  for  daily 
food,  the  mind  engages  in  philosophical  and  religious  speculations, 
and  begins  to  search  for  supernatural  truth. 

There  is  a  conscience  in  man  that  bears  witness  to  a  higher  law 
of  justice  and  goodness,  a  law  superior  to  mere  expediency,  or 
caprice,  or  the  power  which  springs  from  brute  force.  Though  the 
natural  conscience  be  unable  to  originate,  it  never  fails  to  pay  the 
homage  of  admiration  to  the  great  supernatural  virtues  when  they 
are  presented  to  its  gaze ;  and  thus  it  acknowledges  spontaneously 
the  truth  and  universal  influence  of  religion. 


THE   CALL    OF   ALL   MEN   TO    RELIGION.  9 

There  is  a  natural  instinct  too,  anterior  to  all  reasoning,  which  is 
satisfied  only  by  the  acts  and  solemnities  of  religious  worship.  A 
law  of  our  being  makes  us  recognize  by  some  inward  sense  the  exist- 
ence of  a  supreme,  invisible  power,  and  inspires  us  to  express  in 
outward  forms  our  awe  and  veneration. 

The  social  life  of  mankind  shows  that  religion  is  a  universal  want, 
and  that  men  have  a  universal  aptitude  for  it.  The  progress  of  our 
race  and  its  organization,  intellectual  improvement,  submission  to 
authority,  the  binding  of  many  men  into  harmony  for  mutual  aid, 
the  restraint  of  destructive  impulses — these  objects  have  never  been 
attained,  but  with  the  help  of  religious  truths  and  religious  laws. 
Religion  has  been  the  most  important  factor  in  every  civilization  of 
ancient  and  modern  times,  not  only  in  Judea  and  in  Christendom,  but 
in  Egypt,  Greece,  and  Rome,  in  China,  Mexico,  and  Hindustan. 

II.  Though  all  men  require  the  aid  of  religion,  and  are  all  called 
to  it,  yet  there  is  the  patent  fact  that  many  live  absolutely  without  it, 
disbelieving  its  revelations  of  truth,  laughing  at  its  laws,  owning  no 
duty  to  God.  They  do  not  recognize  the  services  of  religion  to 
humanity.  They  do  not  feel  any  want  of  it,  they  profess  to  think  it 
unreasonable,  useless,  even  harmful  to  the  best  interests  of  men.  The 
gospel  of  our  text  puts  before  us  certain  instances  of  this  fact.  The 
numerousness  of  such  cases  is  no  disproof  of  the  truth  that  all  men 
need  religion  and  are  called  to  it  by  God.  It  is  not  inconsistent  with 
the  general  application  of  that  truth,  that  certain  men  should  remain 
for  a  time  without  being  as  yet  called,  or  that  they  should  have  extin- 
guished in  themselves  their  natural  aptitudes.  There  are  some  men 
in  whom  certain  ordinary  faculties  are  almost  extinct.  Custom  and 
disuse,  or  disease,  may  destroy  them.  So  in  the  lowest  depths  of 
the  sea  and  in  the  subterranean  rivers  of  great  caves,  fish  are  found 
that  have  no  eyes;  they  have  been  reduced  to  this  state  through 
countless  generations  of  ancestors  whose  eyes  have  gradually  with- 
ered away  through  want  of  use.  But  they  still  have  the  rudiments 
of  eyes,  which  in  the  course  of  time,  under  ordinary  conditions,  might 
become  capable  of  vision.  Even  those  who  seem  to  be  without  the 
faculty  for  religion  retain  the  rudiments  of  the  sense  somewhere  in 
their  being,  and  through  this  remnant  grace  can  work  if  they  are 
willing,  and  bring  them  to  the  fulness  of  religion.  They  are  for 
the  time  in  an  unnatural  and  diseased  state,  they  can  not  assimilate 
the  natural  food  of  the  soul ;  but  it  does  not  follow  that  natural  food 
at  proper  times  is  unsuitable  or  injurious  to  the  average  man  in  a 


I0  THE   CREED. 

healthy  state,  or  that  those  who  have  fallen  away  can  not  recover 
their  normal  state. 

The  diseased  condition  arises  from  special  causes  that  interfere 
with  the  ordinary  operations  of  the  general  law,  from  inherited  hab- 
its, from  education  or  the  absence  of  it,  or  from  earlier  sins  of  which 
this  is  the  punishment.  It  may  even  arise  from  the  natural  tenden- 
cies of  one's  character,  and  yet  be  an  unnatural  state.  There  are 
weak  points  in  every  man's  character,  on  the  moral  side  as  on  others ; 
these  determine  his  predominant  failing,  which  God  permits  him  to 
have  in  order  that  he  may  gain  merit  by  struggling  against  it.  Thus 
as  some  men  will  have  a  predisposition  to  stealing  and  others  to  in- 
temperance, so  will  some  be  led  in  the  direction  of  irreligion. 
Through  their  yielding  to  temptation,  sin  of  such  a  kind  will  become 
a  second  nature  to  them,  they  will  become  unconscious  of  the  law, 
it  will  be  as  though  the  law  did  not  exist  or  were  not  adapted  to 
their  character ;  yet  for  all  that,  the  laws  of  honesty,  of  sobriety,  and 
of  religion  do  not  cease  to  be  of  universal  obligation  and  of  universal 
fitness.  The  low  code  of  the  society  in  which  one  man  lives  may 
make  no  account  of  thievery,  and  the  equally  low  code  of  another 
society  may  condone  or  even  respect  irreligion;  yet  neither  sin  is 
changed  in  character,  neither  is  the  more  entitled  to  lenient  consid- 
eration, neither  is  the  less  an  outrage  on  human  nature,  which  re- 
quires the  supernatural  guidance  of  religion  for  its  perfection. 

The  irreligion  of  many  men  is  not  due  to  their  not  having  been 
called  by  God,  nor  yet  to  their  being  devoid  of  the  faculty  for  hear- 
ing this  voice.  The  guests  were  invited  and  would  not  come.  Their 
condition  is  voluntary  and  is  not  forced  upon  them  by  the  irresistible 
nature  of  things.  To  every  man  God  gives  the  opportunity  of  seeing 
the  truth,  and  the  strength  to  observe  the  law.  If  the  sense  of  reli- 
gion be  dulled  or  extinct,  his  intelligence  and  his  conscience  are 
always  able  to  revive  it,  with  the  help  of  God's  grace  granted  to  men 
of  good-will.  It  may  indeed  happen  that  for  a  time  a  man  may  labor 
under  an  involuntary  incapacity  for  religion,  that  he  may  be  in  the 
impossibility,  for  the  moment,  of  finding  the  truth;  his  ignorance 
may  be  invincible,  and  his  irreligion  honest  and  sincere.  But  such 
cases  are  probably  rare.  When  they  do  occur,  it  is  either  that  the 
moment  decreed  by  God  for  enlightening  and  calling  such  a  man 
has  not  arrived,  or  that  he  has  been  stricken  with  judicial  blindness 
for  having  deliberately  refused  to  follow  a  sufficient  light.  It  still 
remains  true  that  God  calls  every  man  to  religion. 


THE   CALL    OF   ALL   MEN    TO    RELIGION.  n 

III.  The  parable  of  the  king's  supper  brings  before  us  one  particu- 
lar class  of  obstacles  which  make  men  neglect  religion.  We  are 
told  they  "began  all  at  once  to  make  excuse.  The  first  said  to  him, 
I  have  bought  a  farm  and  I  must  needs  go  out  and  see  it;  I  pray 
thee,  hold  me  excused.  And  another  said,  I  have  bought  five  yoke 
of  oxen  and  I  go  to  try  them ;  I  pray  thee,  hold  me  excused.  And 
another  said,  I  have  married  a  wife  and  therefore  I  can  not  come." 
These  are  all  good  objects  enough  in  themselves;  they  are  even 
duties ;  for  men  must  of  necessity  buy  farms  and  oxen  and  go  to  see 
them,  and  it  is  one  of  their  obligations  to  marry  and  give  in  mar- 
riage. But  the  very  best  things  are  capable  of  engrossing  too  much 
our  attention,  and  of  drawing  us  off  from  other  things  of  still 
greater  importance,  and  so  of  becoming  evil  to  us.  So  do  men's 
external  occupations  interfere  with  the  internal  and  spiritual  work 
that  is  to  be  done  within  them.  Those  who  live  in  the  world  must 
concern  themselves  about  many  things;  they  have  domestic  duties 
and  civic  duties,  duties  of  earning  and  duties  of  spending,  the  duties 
of  self-cultivation,  of  providing  for  the  future,  and  of  recreation, 
duties  in  science,  duties  in  politics.  To  these  they  must  devote  their 
energies ;  it  is  praiseworthy  for  them  to  do  so ;  it  may  even  be  super- 
natural virtue ;  yet  in  all  this  there  may  be  sin. 

There  is  moderation  to  be  observed  and  due  order,  even  in  one's 
most  sacred  duties.  These  cease  to  be  duties  and  become  transgres- 
sions when  they  come  into  conflict  with  higher  duties.  We  are 
bound  to  intermit  them  at  times  in  order  to  perform  our  duties  to 
God;  and  in  this  there  is  a  sacrifice,  not  indeed  of  duties,  but  of 
something  additional  that  might  be  done  to  advance  the  interests  of 
ourselves,  our  family,  our  country.  This  is  where  excess  comes  in 
and  sin.  Many  would  be  willing  enough  to  practise  religion  if  it 
never  conflicted  with  their  inclinations,  pleasures,  gains.  But  they 
will  not  sacrifice  time,  or  convenience,  or  luxury,  or  energy,  or  gain, 
for  the  sake  of  God.  They  do  not  mind  following  Christ  so  long 
as  it  does  not  involve  leaving  anything  or  taking  up  His  cross ;  but 
if  they  have  a  farm  to  see,  or  a  yoke  of  oxen  to  try,  or  a  wife  to 
marry,  they  esteem  these  things  as  far  more  pressing  than  the  invi- 
tations of  God  or  the  precepts  of  religion.  Their  politics,  or  their 
business,  or  their  science,  things  of  this  world,  are  far  too  important 
to  admit  the  interference  of  divine  laws.  If  there  is  any  conflict  be- 
tween the  two  things,  it  is  religion  that  must  yield. 

The  too  exclusive  pursuit  of  laudable  objects  has  thus  been  the 


ia  THE    CREED. 

means  of  turning  many  minds  against  religion.  The  preoccupations 
of  real  duties,  rights,  liberties  and  legitimate  worldly  interests,  have 
made  many  men  deaf  to  the  calls  of  God  to  truth  and  virtue.  The 
Jews  in  their  misplaced  zeal  for  their  religion  rejected  the  Saviour 
of  the  world  as  a  blasphemer.  The  Greeks  with  their  learning, 
refinement,  and  independent  research  after  truth,  could  not  brook 
the  plain  preaching  of  St.  Paul,  and  the  stern  lessons  of  the  Cross 
of  Christ.  Rome,  with  its  wide  imperial  sway,  its  authority,  its 
justice,  its  well-ordered  peace,  its  records  of  splendid  virtues,  could 
not  bend  to  the  humiliations  and  the  unselfishness  of  Christianity. 
The  science  of  this  day,  with  all  its  great  services  to  mankind,  goes 
out  of  its  way  and  makes  war  on  religion  for  maintaining  that  the 
words  of  God  must  not  be  called  in  question.  The  commercial  world 
can  not  accept  a  moral  code  which  says,  Thou  shalt  not  steal.  The 
great  and  prosperous  will  not  recognize  the  brotherhood  of  mankind 
and  the  existence  of  natural  rights  in  the  poor. 

One  and  the  same  excuse  is  made  for  irreligion  in  all  these  cases. 
Religion  with  its  strict  rule  of  belief,  its  claim  for  obedience  and  self- 
sacrifice,  is  declared  to  be  inconsistent  with  a  man's  duties,  or  with 
his  prosperity,  or  to  be  unsuited  to  the  conditions  of  modern  life, 
and  to  the  superior  intelligence  and  lofty  character  of  the  present 
century.  The  truth  is  that  each  age  and  each  class  places  itself  out 
of  harmony  with  religion  in  its  own  particular  way,  and  then  excuses 
itself  by  alleging  that  it  is  naturally  unadapted  to  what  it  calls  the 
antiquated  forms  of  religion. 

The  highest  gifts  of  God  are  open  to  abuse,  there  may  be  sinful 
excess  in  carrying  out  divinely  appointed  duties.  Those  things  which 
God  grants  us  to  help  our  salvation  may  become  obstacles  to  it,  not 
indeed  in  themselves,  but  through  our  perverse  use  of  them.  Civil 
liberty,  wealth,  power,  knowledge,  refinement,  each  of  these  contains 
in  itself  the  seed  of  danger,  the  germ  of  revolt  against  the  law  of 
religion.  Each  of  these  gifts  of  God  may  in  its  own  way  be  used 
as  a  weapon  against  Him.  And  not  only  so,  but  there  is  a  proportion 
between  His  gifts  and  the  misuse  of  them ;  there  is  some  equality  be- 
tween the  amount  we  can  do  as  God's  friends  for  Him,  and  the 
amount  which  we  can  do  against  Him  as  His  enemies.  As  we  re- 
ceive more  numerous  advantages  from  God,  so  are  the  opportunities 
of  misusing  them  multiplied ;  as  we  are  raised  higher  by  God,  so  is 
the  character  of  our  opposition  to  Him  changed;  we  have  nobler 
weapons  to  use  against  Him,  and  this,  to  the  eyes  of  men,  makes  our 


THE   CALL    OF   ALL   MEN    TO    RELIGION.  13 

revolt  seem  more  respectable  and  even  more  noble.  The  irreligion 
of  the  simple  uneducated  man  takes  the  form  of  grossness  and  bru- 
tality ;  the  irreligion  of  the  cultivated  atheist  takes  the  form  of  scien- 
tific criticism,  delicate  ridicule,  supercilious  contempt.  That  does  not 
mean  to  say  that  cultivation  and  knowledge  are  of  necessity  antag- 
onistic to  religion,  but  only  that  these  gifts  of  God  have  fallen  into 
hands  unworthy  of  them,  and  have  been  turned  to  evil  uses.  Such 
men  have  greater  opportunities  for  serving  God  and  glorifying  re- 
ligion, but  at  the  same  time  they  have  greater  temptations  to  misuse 
them,  and  a  liability  to  greater  punishment. 

As  men  will  for  the  most  part  make  a  bad  use  of  the  gifts  they 
receive  from  God,  so  it  follows  that  as  a  general  rule  we  shall  find 
the  possession  of  temporal  advantages  to  be  associated  with  enmity 
to  religion  and  neglect  of  its  precepts.  And  it  will  seem  as  if  there 
was  an  invariable,  and  so  a  natural,  opposition  between  religion  and 
those  interests,  pleasures  and  duties  that  belong  to  our  worldly 
life.  Hence  the  opposition  between  riches  and  our  spirit- 
ual welfare.  Wealth  is  one  of  the  natural  goods  of  life,  and  one  of 
the  great  instruments  of  religious  works,  especially  the  works  of  cor- 
poral mercy.  Riches  are  not  evil  in  themselves,  but  only  the  trusting 
in  riches.  But  so  generally  does  the  trusting  in  riches  follow  on  the 
possession  of  riches,  that  Our  Lord  is  able  to  say  of  the  rich  as  a 
class  that  they  can  hardly  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  What 
He  says  of  wealth  is  true  of  all  other  advantages  when  men  trust 
in  them.  Mental  acuteness  and  power  may  be  as  effective  as  riches 
in  exciting  pride  in  oneself,  contempt  of  brethren,  independence  as 
against  God;  so  they  will  operate  to  turn  many  men  from  religion, 
and  they  will  appear  as  if  naturally  antagonistic  to  it.  Men  who  set 
their  hearts  upon  their  material  or  their  intellectual  excellence  be- 
come careless  as  to  the  possession  of  God,  blinded  to  spiritual  things, 
and  in  a  sense  incapable  of  religion ;  but  yet  it  is  true  that  God  has 
invited  them  to  His  banquet,  that  they  could  have  fitted  themselves 
for  it.  but  that  they  preferred  to  go  after  their  farms,  and  their  oxen, 
and  their  marriage  festivities.  God  then  passes  His  sentence  on 
them :  "I  say  to  you  that  none  of  those  men  who  were  invited,  shall 
taste  of  my  supper." 

IV.  Then  the  master  of  the  house  sends  out  for  the  poor,  the 
feeble,  the  blind  and  the  lame,  and  His  table  is  filled  with  guests.  It 
was  fortunate  for  them  that  they  had  no  farms,  or  oxen,  or  domestic 
affairs  to  keep  them  from  the  banquet.  They  were  unfortunate  in  a 


X4  THE   CREED. 

worldly  sense,  but  they  found  ample  compensation.  Here  is  the 
blessedness  of  the  poor,  and  the  simple,  and  the  suffering,  and  the 
ignorant.  God  does  not  overwhelm  any  class  with  advantages,  nor 
yet  with  disadvantages ;  all  are  favored  in  some  respects,  some  in  one 
way,  some  in  another.  It  would  be  hard  if  the  chief  spiritual  ad- 
vantages went  to  those  who  were  already  possessed  of  material  su- 
premacy and  mental  supremacy.  It  can  not  be  that  any  men  receive 
some  exceptional  advantage,  without  at  the  same  time  incurring  the 
drawbacks  that  belong  to  that  advantage.  The  poor  and  the 
lowly  are  cut  off  not  merely  from  the  enjoyments  that  belong 
to  riches  and  position,  but  from  many  opportunities  of  working 
for  God,  and  from  the  chance  of  making  great  sacrifices  for  Him. 
They  can  do  but  little  and  leave  but  little  for  Him,  but  they  are 
exempt  from  the  anxieties,  the  temptations,  the  self -sufficiency,  the 
preoccupations  of  other  men.  Religion  finds  fewer  obstacles  to  its 
action  in  their  souls.  It  seems  as  if  they  were  more  adapted  to 
religion  and  religion  to  them;  as  if  they  were  more  visibly  called 
than  others. 

Hence  one  of  the  notes  and  one  of  the  reproaches  of  religion.  In 
the  first  ages  Christianity  was  esteemed  the  creed  of  slaves  and  out- 
casts by  the  lordly  pagans  of  the  empire.  In  later  times  the  Catholic 
Church  has  been  held  contemptible  for  being  the  creed  of  the  poor 
and  the  ignorant,  the  creed  of  women  and  children,  and  not  the 
creed  of  the  arrogant  and  the  independent,  the  successful  politician, 
and  the  speculator  in  millions.  It  is  actually  despised  because  it 
fulfils  the  prophecy  of  Jesus  Christ,  "The  poor  shall  have  the  gospel 
preached  to  them;"  because  it  is  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  savage 
and  can  train  him  to  civilization;  because  it  is  the  treasure  of  the 
poor,  and  gives  him  consciousness  of  his  dignity,  and  affords  the 
only  comfort  that  can  help  him  to  bear  the  wrongs  of  civilization. 

The  call  to  religion  is  for  all  men ;  not  only  for  those  who  are  in 
the  highways  and  byways,  not  only  for  the  poor,  but  for  the  rich  and 
prosperous,  for  the  owners  of  farms  and  the  buyers  of  oxen.  While 
the  Church  is  the  Church  of  the  poor,  she  has  shown  herself  to  be 
adapted  to  all  the  needs  of  the  rich  and  the  learned.  If  many  of 
these  have  disobeyed  the  call  of  God  it  is  nothing  against  the  suitable- 
ness of  religion  for  all,  it  only  proves  that  certain  ones  were  unwor- 
thy of  possessing  it.  There  is  no  discredit  to  religion.  She  is 
honored  equally  by  the  homage  of  some  and  by  the  opposition  of 
others.  It  is  her  glory  equally  that  she  fills  the  hungry  with  goofl 


THE  CALL   OF  ALL  MEN   TO   RELIGION.  15 

things,  and  the  rich  she  sends  empty  away.  She  gives  God  thanks 
equally  for  concealing  His  great  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent 
and  for  revealing  them  to  the  humble. 

The  Catholic  religion  is  for  all  men,  all  nations,  all  times.  All 
require  it,  though  they  will  not  acknowledge  the  need.  Each  has 
his  wants,  his  aching  pains,  his  dangers.  Religion  has  the  remedy 
for  all  evils  whether  private  or  public,  those  of  individuals,  and  those 
of  society,  and  those  of  humanity.  For  it  is  the  communication  of 
God  to  men,  God's  truths,  God's  laws,  God's  blessings.  There  is 
none  who  can  dispense  with  these  and  be  happy ;  there  is  none  but  re- 
quires the  remedies,  the  lessons,  the  comforts  that  the  Church  can 
give;  there  is  none  who  is  without  the  vocation  to  her  fold,  none 
without  the  light  to  lead  him  there  some  time  or  other.  One  thing 
alone  is  required,  viz. :  to  leave  all  to  follow  the  truth  and  the  light ; 
this  few  will  do ;  but  such  as  do  so  will  receive  a  thousand-fold  even 
in  this  life  and  in  the  world  to  come  life  everlasting. 


1 6  THE   CREED. 


II.    INSUFFICIENCY  OF  REASON  IN  MATTERS  OF 

RELIGION. 

BY  THE  REV.  TIMOTHY  P.   HOLLAND. 

SYNOPSIS.— I.  Free-thinkers  reject  revelation,  deny  need  of  any,  appeal 
to  natural  religion  as  the  only  religion,  which,  they  claim,  reason  suffices 
to  teach  us. 

II.  We  admit  natural  religion,  basis  of  supernatural  religion.     It 
lies  within  the  province  of  reason.    This  does  not  exclude  possibility  of  a 
more  perfect  religion.    That  depends  on  sufficiency  of  reason  to  teach  it. 

III.  In  its  present  condition,  human  race  can  not  live  up  to  natural 
religion  without  more  light  than  reason. 

IV.  It   is   too   vague.     It   does   not   afford   sufficient    enthusiasm. 
History  shows  that  in  fact  men  have  made  a  failure  without  revelation. 
Revelation  no  detriment  to  dignity  of  reason,  but  supplements  and  per- 
fects it. 

One  of  the  most  common  and  most  fatal  errors  about  religion 
current  in  the  society  in  which  our  lot  is  cast  is  the  error  of  free- 
thinkers. 

People  of  their  mind  are  against  all  Churches  and  church-going. 
They  are  too  wise  in  their  own  conceit  to  need  any  instruction  in 
religious  matters.  They  are  the  self-appointed  liberators  of  human 
thought  from  the  tyranny  of  creeds  and  dogmas.  Human  under- 
standing alone,  they  say,  is  able  to  find  out  the  truth.  They  abjure 
all  authority,  all  prescribed  forms  of  religion.  No  outside  help,  no 
special  light  from  above  is  possible  or  necessary;  so-called  revela- 
tion is  an  imposture  debasing  the  dignity  of  human  reason.  Chris- 
tianity is  necessary  neither  for  the  guidance  of  the  individual  nor 
of  society.  "Believe  in  God  and  follow  your  common  sense"  is 
the  only  dogma  of  this  naturalism.  They  point  triumphantly  to 
individuals  of  known  integrity,  so  far  as  natural  virtue  goes,  who 
profess  no  religious  faith,  and  say,  "Here  are  men  who  reject  your 
religious  teaching  and  who  live  better  lives  than  many  of  you 
church-goers."  They  appeal  to  a  universal  natural  religion,  the  re- 
ligion of  reason,  and  claim  that  reason  tells  a  man  all  he  needs  to 
know  about  religion,  that  man  is  sufficient  for  himself.  It  is  a 
doctrine  attractive  to  superficial  minds  because  so  flattering  to 
human  vanity.  It  is  the  legitimate  progeny  of  Protestantism  which 


INSUFFICIENCY  OF  REASON.  17 

began  by  rejecting  the  authority  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church, 
and  now  has  come  to  rejecting  Jesus  Christ  Himself. 

There  is  some  grain  of  truth  in  every  error.  Every  false  doc- 
trine is  a  perversion,  a  deformity,  an  exaggeration  of  some  truth. 
Let  us  see  first  what  truth  may  be  at  bottom  of  this  falsehood. 

In  the  first  place  free-thinkers  are  the  pretentious  guardians  of 
"natural  religion."  Is  there  such  a  thing  as  natural  religion? 

When  we  speak  of  religion  we  mean  that  tie,  that  bond  of  duty, 
which  binds  us  to  God.  It  may  be  called  the  sum  of  those  moral 
obligations  of  man  toward  God.  That  God  is  our  Creator,  Supreme 
Master,  Benefactor  and  Judge  obliges  us  to  pay  Him  the  homage 
of  adoration,  obedience,  gratitude,  love,  fear,  etc.  Now  when  we 
speak  of  religion  we  mean  this  body  of  relations  between  ourselves 
and  almighty  God. 

Natural  religion  is  distinguished  from  supernatural  religion.  The 
natural  is  the  ordinary,  the  original ;  the  supernatural  is  that  which 
is  added  to  the  original  and  ordinary  and  is  above  it.  The  religion 
which  is  natural  is  the  bond  of  duty  man  owes  to  God  by  the 
original  constitution  of  things,  viz.,  creation.  That  God  is  man's 
maker  and  owner  requires  a  certain  behavior  of  man  toward  God. 
A  supernatural  religion  would  mean  something  more,  something 
added  to  the  original  arrangement,  some  improvement  on  the 
natural,  ordinary  relations  with  God.  By  nature,  by  the  fact  of 
creation  simply  we  are  creatures ;  our  place  is  in  the  servants'  hall, 
we  are  bound  to  serve  Him  who  made  us  and  owns  us.  By  super- 
natural grace,  by  a  new  and  gratuitous  gift  of  God,  by  a  favor  we 
had  no  right  to  expect,  God,  through  His  only  begotten  Son,  has 
given  us  adoption,  so  that  we  are  no  longer  merely  servants,  but 
friends,  sons,  and  if  sons  heirs  also,  coheirs  of  Jesus  Christ.  We 
are  called  up  from  the  servants'  hall  to  enjoy  the  intimacy  of  the 
family  circle.  This  was  not  to  be  expected.  This  was  a  free  and 
most  gracious  condescension,  this  is  not  the  ordinary,  natural  thing, 
but  beyond  it — supernatural.  Our  behavior  now  must  be  corre- 
spondingly improved.  There  are  new  ties  binding  us  to  God  our 
Father.  There  are  new  and  more  delicate  relations  between  us. 
The  old  allegiance  is  not  dissolved.  We  owe  him  all  that  we  did  in 
the  natural,  original  order  of  things  and  much  more.  This  new 
order  of  things,  this  new  attitude  toward  God,  this  new  bond  of 
obligation  to  God,  is  supernatural  religion.  There  is,  therefore,  a 
religion,  a  bond,  a  compact  between  God  and  man  which  is 


X8  THE   CREED. 

natural,  which  is  prior  to  and  which  underlies  supernatural  religion. 
It  is  the  groundwork,  the  foundation  of  all  religion.  Supernatural 
religion  is  in  no  way  at  variance  with  it.  It  does  not  destroy  it  or 
dispense  with  it,  but  perfects  it  and  builds  upon  it  a  nobler  man- 
sion. Christ,  the  messenger  of  this  new  covenant,  said  of  the 
natural  law,  "I  come  not  to  destroy  the  law,  but  to  fulfil  it;  not 
one  jot  or  tittle  of  the  law  shall  pass  away  till  all  be  fulfilled."  The 
first  effect  of  grace  is  to  restore  and  strengthen  natural  virtue,  just 
as  a  man  who  comes  to  build  a  house  upon  a  foundation  does  not 
destroy  that  foundation  but  strengthens  the  parts  that  have  decayed. 

To  perceive  these  natural  relations  with  God,  to  understand  our 
duties  toward  Him  in  the  natural  order  is  within  the  province  of 
human  understanding.  Reason  is  a  light  put  into  man  by  the 
author  of  nature  to  show  it  to  him  and  to  enable  him  to  live  by  it. 
There  is  nothing  in  natural  religion  strictly  above  pure  reason  to 
grasp.  There  is  nothing  in  its  demands  which  are  not  heartily  in 
accord  with  the  sentiments  of  sane  reason. 

We  go  this  far  with  free-thinkers  therefore,  that  there  is  a  uni- 
versal natural  religion  which  appeals  to  reason.  To  live  up  to  it  is 
our  reasonable  service.  It  is  the  most  natural,  the  most  reasonable, 
thing  in  the  world.  It  is  absolutely  essential  to  human  dignity 
and  self-respect  to  pay  to  God  the  homage  we  owe  Him  as  our 
Creator,  our  sovereign  master,  our  constant  benefactor.  In  other 
words,  for  a  man  to  be  religious  is  most  natural ;  not  to  be  religious 
is  most  unnatural. 

This,  however,  is  not  to  deny  the  possibility  or  the  need  of  a 
supernatural  religion.  Because  there  is  a  natural  order  of  behavior 
toward  God  arising  from  creation  does  not  make  it  impossible  for 
God  to  bestow  another  gift  upon  us  requiring  more  perfect  behavior 
on  our  part.  The  necessity  of  satisfying  the  demands  of  natural 
religion  does  not  exclude  the  possibility  or  the  necessity  of  a  revealed 
religion.  It  may  be  that  man  is  unable  with  his  natural  powers  to 
fulfil  it,  in  which  case  he  would  need  help.  In  that  case  he  would 
be  most  unreasonable  and  most  negligent  of  natural  justice  did  he 
neglect  to  search  for  a  light  from  God  to  help  him.  He  would  be 
guilty  of  contempt  of  natural  religious  duties  if  he  did  not  seek 
the  necessary  aid  to  fulfil  them. 

Where  we  separate  from  our  adversaries  is  not  on  the  question 
of  the  existence  of  natural  religion,  but  on  this  question:  I*  man 


INSUFFICIENCY   OF  REASON.  19 

able  to  know  it,  is  it  within  his  reach  to  know  what  it  requires  of 
him  so  clearly  and  firmly  as  to  enable  him  to  be  faithful  to  it? 

We  are  ready  to  admit  that  a  few  rare  specimens  of  mankind, 
in  whom  nature  was  more  happily  compounded,  have  been  able  with- 
out the  teachings  of  faith  to  reach  remarkable  perfection  in  natural 
virtue.  The  "good  emperor,"  Marcus  Aurelius,  a  truly  noble- 
minded  man,  is  pointed  out  as  a  pagan  saint  because  of  his  self- 
mastery,  his  love  of  wisdom  and  his  zeal  for  virtue;  Epictetus,  the 
patient  blind  slave,  by  his  spirit  of  resignation  to  the  ills  of  life,  and 
Seneca,  the  philosopher,  tutor  of  the  Emperor  Nero,  who  in  the 
midst  of  corruption  and  licentiousness  lived  an  abstemious  and 
frugal  life  devoted  to  search  of  true  wisdom.  Such  men,  though 
uncertain  of  many  of  the  most  fundamental  truths  and  failing  in 
many  natural  virtues,  bear  yet  splendid  testimony  that  reason 
highly  developed  is  a  light  which  can  discover  many  things  relative 
to  the  mystery  of  human  life. 

We  admit,  too,  that  reason  gives  some  light,  however  poor,  to 
everybody.  St.  Paul  reproaches  the  men  of  his  time  for  not  know- 
ing the  Creator :  "The  invisible  things  of  him  from  the  creation  of 
the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood  by  the  things  that  are 
made,  even  his  eternal  power  and  Godhead,  so  that  they  are  inex- 
cusable. .  .  ." 

Admitting  that  a  small  minority  of  men  under  specially  favorable 
circumstances  may  attain  a  fair  knowledge  of  natural  religion,  ad- 
mitting that  the  rank  and  file  of  men  can  know  faintly  the  most 
elementary  truths,  we  maintain  against  rationalists  and  free-thinkers 
this — that  the  common  run  of  men,  or  better,  that  the  human  race 
in  its  present  condition,  can  not  without  revelation  or  some  extra 
help  know  the  truths  of  natural  religion,  can  not  know  how  to  live 
rightly,  that  men  can  not  know  these  things  easily  enough  or  with 
sufficient  certitude  to  be  able  to  live  up  to  them.  That  is,  that,  taking 
human  nature  at  its  real  worth,  not  exaggerating  its  sufficiency,  it 
can  not  get  along  without  external  help.  That  it  is  not  sufficient 
unto  itself.  That  without  more  light  than  human  understanding  can 
furnish  it  can  not  fulfil  vows  to  God  or  regulate  human  life  rightly. 
That  it  will  make  a  failure  of  life,  and  will  fail  to  rise  to  the  natural 
dignity  of  human  nature,  will  fail  to  accomplish  the  natural  end  of 
existence. 

Nor  does  this  stultify  the  Creator,  as  implying  that  He  left  man 
without  adequate  means  to  attain  the  end  assigned  him.  "When 


20  THE   CREED. 

God  made  man  he  made  him  right."  His  reason  was  sufficient 
once,  but  He  is  not  now  in  his  original  integrity.  "There  hath 
passed  away  a  glory  from  the  earth."  Man  has  gone  down  from 
the  holy  city  of  Jerusalem  to  the  Jericho  of  ungodliness;  he  has 
fallen  among  robbers;  he  has  been  stripped  of  his  goods  and  left 
wounded  and  half  dead  by  the  wayside.  And  while  we  have  said 
that  natural  religion  lies  within  the  reach  of  reason,  that  does  not 
mean  that  every  man,  however  poorly  developed  his  intellect,  how- 
ever rebellious  his  passions,  is  able  with  steady  eye  to  perceive  it. 
It  does  not  mean  that  the  most  of  men  are  actually  capable  of  read- 
ing in  things  the  natural  moral  law.  It  means  simply  that  reason 
at  its  best  is  not  unequal  to  the  task  of  discovering  the  truths  of 
natural  religion.  To  say  that  a  certain  feat  of  strength  is  not  be- 
yond human  power  is  not  to  say  that  every  human  being  is  equal 
to  it,  or  that  the  most  of  men  are,  but  that  the  best  efforts  of  man 
can  accomplish  it. 

As  for  individuals  being  able  to  guide  themselves — how  many 
of  the  great  mass  of  men  actually  do  any  thinking  for  themselves 
on  the  great  truths  of  existence?  "With  most  people  imitation, 
tradition  and  education  are  everything.  Our  beliefs  are  for  the 
most  part  caused  and  determined  by  the  community  in  which  we 
happen  to  be  born  and  bred,  but  are  not  based  on  any  reasoning  of 
ours  either  implicit  or  explicit"  (Tyrrell).  It  is  authority  that 
moves  us  to  believe.  We  believe  what  we  are  taught;  we  reason 
very  little  for  ourselves.  Nearly  all  our  religious  beliefs  and  moral 
truths  come  to  us  from  others ;  very  few  have  the  leisure,  the  incli- 
nation or  the  industry  to  study  out  for  themselves  the  truths  of 
religion.  To  say  that  every  man  is  a  law  unto  himself,  that  he  has 
only  to  follow  what  his  own  reason  spells  out  for  him  and  needs 
no  guidance,  no  authority  to  teach  him,  is  childish  ignorance  of  men. 

Nor  could  the  collective  wisdom  of  the  race,  the  sum  of  knowledge 
which  the  whole  race  is  able  to  accumulate  as  the  findings  of 
human  reason  suffice  to  guide  men  in  the  great  art  of  living  rightly. 

Human  reason  alone  is  able  to  delineate  only  the  dim  outlines  of 
religion.  Its  light  is  too  dim.  It  gives  twilight  glimpses  of  the 
Creator  too  fugitive  and  indefinite  to  light  the  way.  It  gives  the 
broad  principles  of  duty,  but  its  light  is  not  strong  enough  to  dis- 
cover the  detailed  application  of  these.  It  makes  us  feel  in  a  gen- 
eral way  the  necessity  of  doing  God's  will,  but  it  does  not  declare 
what  that  will  is  and  how  to  do  it.  "The  choices  of  life  are  definite 


INSUFFICIENCY  OF  REASON.  at 

things,  and  the  rule  to  guide  our  choice  must  also  be  definite.  It 
can  tell  us  that  all  vice  is  to  be  shunned,  but  it  does  not  tell  us 
whether  this  or  that  particular  thing  is  a  vice.  Natural  religion  is 
a  religion  of  dreams,  its  doctrines  are  vague  as  dreams ;  like  dreams 
their  features  are  forever  changing.  It  can  never  rule  men;  ft  has 
never  ruled  them.  It  excites  more  longings  in  men  than  it  can 
satisfy.  It  ever  cries  for  more.  It  is  an  alluring  voice  heard  far 
off  through  the  fog  calling  to  them,  'Follow  me/  but  it  leaves  them 
in  the  fog  to  pick  their  own  way  out  toward  it  over  rocks  and 
streams  and  pitfalls  which  they  can  but  half  distinguish,  among 
which  they  may  be  killed  or  crippled  and  are  almost  certain  to 
grow  bewildered"  (Mallock). 

This  vagueness  strips  religion  of  all  enthusiasm.  It  is  too  uncer- 
tain to  be  urgent.  Religion  is  sacrifice — "not  my  will  but  thine  be 
done."  But  men  are  not  going  to  make  sacrifices  for  shadows  or 
specters.  God  is  the  spring  of  action.  The  cold  call  of  duty  is 
weak  against  the  selfishness  of  our  nature.  The  personality  of  God 
is  too  remote.  The  Incarnation  by  bringing  God  close  to  us  has 
transformed  duty  into  the  pleadings  of  infinite  love  and  warmed 
men's  hearts  with  love  and  enthusiasm.  Reason  leaves  men  in  a 
darkness,  a  coldness,  a  lassitude,  a  lethargy  rightly  described  by 
the  author  of  Revelation,  "the  darkness  of  the  shadow  of  the  valley 
of  death." 

The  right  way  to  find  out  how  well  men  can  shift  for  themselves 
in  matters  of  the  soul  without  external  help  is  to  see  how  they 
actually  have  behaved  without  it.  If  we  can  find  a  people  for  a 
long  time  without  the  light  of  true  revelation,  the  success  that  was 
theirs  is  an  indication  of  the  possibilities  of  natural  guidance. 

Our  adversaries  point  out  to  us  good  virtuous  men  all  around 
us  who  do  not  believe  in  revealed  truth,  and  they  say,  These  are  as 
enlightened  and  more  virtuous  than  many  Christian  believers.  They 
are  as  just,  as  temperate,  as  kind  and  as  benevolent.  It  is  true  there 
are  such  people  among  us,  whose  lives  are  a  reproach  to  many  a 
Catholic  in  many  ways ;  but  this  proves  nothing  against  the  useful- 
ness or  need  of  revelation.  These  people  are  actually,  though  per- 
haps unconsciously,  molded  in  their  beliefs  by  truths  revealed. 
There  is  a  whole  body  of  beliefs  and  doctrines  the  common  stock 
of  society  which  one  might  think  to  be  these  findings  of  natural 
reason,  but  which  in  reality  are  but  the  traditions  of  a  society  that 
has  been  for  centuries  in  the  main  a  Christian  society.  Every 


33  THE   CREED. 

man's  thought  is  colored  by  the  environments  in  which  he  lives. 
No  man  living  in  Christian  society,  unless  his  mind  has  been  de- 
bauched by  immoral  living,  can  strip  himself  of  the  legacy  of  truth 
which  is  his  by  heredity,  of  the  customs  and  general  tone  of  the 
society  in  which  he  lives.  It  is  not  fair,  then,  to  take  an  unbeliever 
from  the  midst  of  Christian  influences  as  an  example  of  what  man 
would  be  without  the  aid  of  a  revealed  religion,  for  such  a  one  is 
not  without  its  aid,  and  though  he  may  not  be  conscious  of  it, 
many  of  the  principles  of  life  which  he  possesses  are  his,  thanks  to  a 
Christian  social  influence,  and  he  would  never  have  attained  to 
them  by  his  own  individual  powers  of  discernment.  "Noble-minded 
disciples  of  naturalism  are  parasites  of  a  believing  society  and  would 
die  without  it"  (Balfour). 

Let  us  go  back  to  the  pagan  world  before  the  time  when  paganism 
began  to  be  influenced  by  contact  with  the  Gospel.  Let  us  take  the 
very  best  of  these  peoples,  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  who  were  most 
highly  cultured  and  boasted  the  wisdom  of  their  philosophers.  In- 
deed, even  here  we  are  not  sure  we  are  eliminating  all  revelation. 
The  Jews,  scattered  as  they  were  throughout  the  world,  doubtless 
acted  in  some  degree  as  a  corrective  to  the  perverted  notions  of  the 
pagans.  And  we  are  not  sure  but  God  may  have  vouchsafed  some 
kind  of  light  to  these  children  of  darkness,  which  was  authenticated. 

Yet  in  spite  of  these  possible  helps,  in  what  a  deplorable  muddle 
do  we  find  men  concerning  the  truths  of  natural  religion ! 

To  begin  with,  they  had  most  deformed  notions  about  the  nature 
of  God.  Polytheism,  dualism  and  idolatry  flourished  universally; 
stars,  plants,  animals,  wooden  and  metal  idols  were  adored  as  gods, 
as  is  still  the  case  among  barbarous  tribes.  Sanctity  or  purity  was 
not  an  attribute  of  these  gods.  The  most  revolting  vices  and  crimes 
were  attributed  to  them — pride,  envy,  jealousy,  murder,  incest,  rape. 
Every  human  passion  was  deified  and  served  as  a  patron  to  those 
addicted  to  such  a  vice. 

Such  being  the  notions  concerning  the  being  of  the  Deity,  natur- 
ally the  notions  of  the  worship  pleasing  to  it  were  equally  distorted. 
Human  sacrifices  were  offered  to  placate  the  gods  and  most  ob- 
scene orgies  were  perpetrated  in  their  honor,  the  gods  not  being 
worthy  of  pure  love,  but  hideous  beings  to  be  placated.  No  one 
ever  thought  of  loving  them.  "Who  ever  thought  of  giving  thanks 
to  the  gods  that  he  was  a  good  man?"  said  Cicero.  "It  were  absurd," 
said  Aristotle,  "for  any  one  to  say  he  loved  Jupiter." 


INSUFFICIENCY  OP  'REASON.  *«j' 

Likewise  distorted  and  debased  was  the  idea  of  the  dignity  of 
man.  Charity  was  little  known  in  the  sense  in  which  we  know  it. 
The  reason  for  this  was  that  the  corner-stone  truth  that  gives  value 
to  dignity  in  man  was  ignored,  viz.,  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 

The  Stoic  school  taught  that  souls,  being  substantially  an  evapora- 
tion of  blood,  continued  to  exist  a  certain  time  after  death  in  a 
separate  state  of  being,  especially  in  the  case  of  wise  men,  but  could 
only  exist  till  the  next  general  conflagration  of  the  world. 

Cicero  hesitated.  After  writing  a  book  on  the  immortality  of  the 
soul  he  writes:  "I  have  evolved  this  book,  but  I  know  not  while  I 
read  it  how  to  assent  to  it.  When  I  put  down  the  book  and  begin 
to  think  on  the  immortality  of  souls,  all  this  assent  falls  to  the 
ground." 

Virgil,  Ovid  and  Horace  sought  protection  against  the  comfort- 
less thought  of  an  inevitable  descent  into  the  gloomy  night  of  the 
nether  world  and  into  an  eternal  sleep?  in  the  enjoyment  of  the 
present  moment. 

"There  is  nothing  after  death,  and  death  is  nothing;  you  will 
then  be  with  the  unborn,"  was  the  common  saying. 

The  tombstones  over  the  dead  frequently  referred  to  the  transi- 
toriness  of  everything  human,  but  always  for  the  sole  purpose  of 
enforcing  the  moral  that  as  much  enjoyment  as  possible  should  be 
won  and,  as  it  were,  pressed  out  of  the  fleeting  moments. 

"What  I  have  eaten  and  drunk,  that  I  take  with  me,"  says  one 
of  them ;  "what  I  have  left  behind  me,  that  have  I  forfeited." 

From  such  false  principles  concerning  God  and  man,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  conjecture  what  depraved  rules  of  morals  were  deduced. 
The  myths  of  all  kinds  of  immoral  escapades  on  the  part  of  the 
gods  were  made  the  excuse  for  similar  crimes  in  men.  The  base- 
ness and  degradation  of  pagans  is  depicted  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans,  in  these  words:  "They  changed  the  glory  of  the  incor- 
ruptible God  into  an  image  made  like  to  corruptible  man  and  to 
birds  and  fourfooted  beasts  and  creeping  things.  Wherefore  God 
also  gave  them  up  to  uncleanness  through  the  lusts  of  their  own 
hearts,  to  dishonor  their  own  bodies.  They  changed  the  truth  of 
God  into  a  lie,  and  worshipped  and  served  the  creature  more  than 
the  Creator  .  .  .  for  this  cause  also  God  gave  them  up  unto  vile 
affections.  .  .  .  Even  as  they  did  not  like  to  retain  God  in  their 
knowledge,  God  gave  them  over  to  a  reprobate  mind,  to  do  those 
things  that  are  not  convenient,  being  filled  with  all  unrighteousness, 


,4  THE    CREED. 

fornication,  wickedness,  covetousness,  maliciousness,  full  of  envy, 
murder,  debate,  deceit,  malignity;  whisperers,  backbiters,  haters  of 
God,  despiteful,  proud  boasters,  inventors  of  evil  things,  without 
natural  affection,  implacable,  unmerciful." 

Such  was  the  revolting  condition  of  the  pagan  world  under  the 
sole  guidance  of  what  free-thinkers  proclaim  the  only  guide — natural 
reason.  Without  the  light  of  revelation  to  guide  them  these  are 
the  follies  men  fell  into.  They  changed  the  likeness  of  God  into 
the  image  of  a  creature ;  they  lost  the  dignity  of  man  and  floundered 
in  the  filth  of  immorality.  The  various  forms  of  religion — whose 
number  was  legion — were  all  the  devices  of  man.  But  the  fact 
that  the  world  so  universally  believed  them  to  be  revealed  shows 
that  men  felt  the  need  of  a  light  from  above.  They  consulted 
oracles,  they  examined  the  entrails  of  victims  to  know  the  will  of 
the  gods.  They  in  many  ways  attested  what  their  philosophers 
taught,  that  the  great  enigmas  of  life  can  only  be  solved  by  the  aid 
of  a  special  light  from  heaven ;  that  a  light  superior  to  that  of  rea- 
son is  necessary  to  answer  its  own  demands.  If  the  cults  he  prac- 
tised did  not  actually  give  the  help  needed  they  show  that  man 
realizes  how  insufficient  he  is  for  himself,  and  it  was  but  reasonable 
to  lift  his  eyes  to  heaven  for  help. 

These  free-thinkers  would  lead  us  back  into  the  degradation  of 
paganism.  They  would  take  away  from  us  the  "excellent  light  of 
the  Gospel,"  which  shows  us  the  way  and  the  truth,  following 
which  we  shall  not  walk  in  darkness,  but  shall  have  the  light  of  life. 
They  would  extinguish  that  fire  of  divine  love,  of  zeal,  for  the  com- 
mands of  God  our  Creator,  which  Jesus  Christ  came  to  kindle  upon 
earth.  They  would  reopen  the  graves  of  the  horrid  lusts  of  pagan- 
ism and  let  them  loose  upon  men. 

Is  their  motive  true  zeal  for  the  right  use  of  reason,  true  love  for 
the  real  dignity  of  man,  or  are  these  free-thinkers  not  rather  of  a 
piece  with  those  pagans  of  whom  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  speaks  ? 

"Professing  themselves  to  be  wise,  they  became  fools,  wherefore 
God  also  gave  them  up  to  uncleanness  .  .  .  unto  vile  affections 
...  to  that  which  is  against  nature.  .  .  .  And  even  as  they 
did  not  like  to  retain  God  in  their  knowledge,  God  gave  them  over  to 
a  reprobate  mind,  to  do  those  things  which  are  not  becoming." 


TRUE  BELIEF  THE  WAY  TO  GOOD  LIFE.  25 

III.    TRUE  BELIEF  THE  WAY  TO  GOOD  LIFE. 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REV.  JAMES  BELLORD,  D.D. 

"Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  please  God." — Heb.  xi.  6. 

SYNOPSIS. — Faith  necessary  for  good  life.  Good  life  necessary  for  faith. 
The  relation  bet-ween  the  two.  The  world's  estimate  of  the  necessity  of 
faith,  St.  Paul's  answer  to  that  estimate.  Great  difference  in  the  life  of 
one  animated  by  faith  and  one  not  animated.  Faith  gives  supernatural 
quality  to  man's  life,  and  even  ennobles  the  natural  in  man.  Many  virtues 
inculcated  by  faith.  The  religious  motive  the  only  one  that  leads  men  to 
good  lives.  The  testimony  of  experience  as  to  the  value  of  faith.  Faith 
rejected  by  many.  The  evil  effects  of  the  absence  of  faith. 

I.  Faith  and  works — true  belief  and  good  life — these  are  two 
things  absolutely  necessary  for  the  spiritual  perfection  of  man  and 
for  his  salvation.     They  are  the  two  wings  by  which  man  rises 
towards  God.    Each  one  in  itself  is  good  and  necessary;  either,  by 
itself,  is  absolutely  insufficient.    Faith  alone  will  not  save  our  souls ; 
goodness  of  life  by  itself  will  not  save  us.    Faith  is  exalted  by  the 
apostle  as  an  essential  element  of  holiness,  yet  if  it  have  not  charity, 
that  is,  the  love  of  God  expressed  in  good  life,  or  the  keeping  of  the 
commandments,  it  is  but  an  empty  sound — a  sounding  brass  and  a 
tinkling  cymbal.    On  the  other  hand  a  man  may  have  all  human  ex- 
cellence, yet  without  faith  it  is  impossible  that  he  should  please  God. 

The  two  things  are  necessary  to  salvation ;  and  also  they  are  neces- 
sary each  to  the  existence  of  the  other,  (i)  Faith  is  the  principle, 
the  source,  the  motive  of  good  life.  Good  life  in  its  highest  expres- 
sion is  impossible  without  faith.  (2)  Faith,  on  the  other  hand, 
though  not  exactly  impossible  without  good  life,  is  dead  and  useless 
without  it.  Good  works  are  often  the  source  and  origin  of  faith ;  they 
are  the  evidence  of  its  life  and  vigor ;  they  are  the  nutrition  and  sup- 
port of  faith.  (3)  The  two  things  together  constitute  true  religion ; 
they  embrace  the  whole  spiritual  life  of  man ;  they  give  him  here  rest 
and  peace,  they  bring  him  hereafter  to  eternal  life.  We  shall  con- 
sider to-day  the  fact  that  faith  is  essential  to  good  life. 

II.  This  is  a  truth  that  we  need  carefully  to  consider  and  maintain 
and  act  upon ;  for  it  is  a  truth  that  has  been  almost  totally  lost  sight 
of  by  a  great  multitude  of  men.    The  opposite  of  this  truth  has  be- 


,6  THE  CREED. 

come  almost  a  maxim  of  human  life  outside  the  Catholic  Church ;  it 
is  continually  expressed  in  different  forms.  Thus  we  hear  it  said: 
"It  does  not  matter  what  a  man  believes  so  long  as  he  does  his  duty 
to  his  fellowmen."  And  there  is  something  of  this  kind :  "His  faith 
is  good  whose  life  is  in  the  right."  And  again :  "God  will  not  con- 
demn any  man  for  a  mere  matter  of  opinion ;"  a  statement  which  in 
itself  is  quite  true,  only  it  is  so  used  as  to  convey  a  most  pernicious 
falsehood;  for  revealed  truths  are  not  mere  opinions.  The  fact  is 
that  the  great  virtue  of  faith  has  dropped  out  of  men's  comprehension 
entirely ;  the  word  remains,  but  the  ideas  it  expresses  are  lost.  Faith 
implies  a  body  of  truth  revealed  by  God,  an  accurate  knowledge  of 
that  truth  by  men,  and  a  firm  adherence  of  the  intellect  to  it,  as 
being  the  highest  certainty;  it  is  the  first  duty  of  religion  to  ascer- 
tain and  embrace  this  truth.  Such  is  the  notion  of  faith  that  has  pre- 
vailed from  the  days  of  Moses  to  the  days  of  the  apostles,  and  down 
to  our  times  in  the  largest  united  religious  body,  the  Catholic  Church. 
During  the  last  couple  of  centuries  or  so,  a  number  of  sects  have 
sprung  up,  who  have  lost  the  idea  of  faith,  of  certainty,  of  duty  in 
the  matter  of  belief,  and  who  know  of  nothing  higher  than  mere 
religious  opinion,  or  persuasion,  or  taste.  Of  course  if  faith  is  noth- 
ing more  than  this  or  that  man's  temporary  liking  for  this  or  that 
doctrine,  it  is  a  matter  of  the  smallest  consequence.  Beginning  with 
this  false  principle  it  naturally  follows  that  men  will  attach  all  im- 
portance to  morality  and  none  to  true  belief;  and  that  in  their  un- 
certainty as  to  the  relations  of  man  with  God,  they  will  neglect  these, 
and  think  more  of  the  relations  of  man  to  his  fellowmen.  Then  they 
come  to  think  that  there  is  no  such  thing  as  absolute  religious  truth ; 
they  do  not  take  any  trouble  in  seeking  it ;  and  when  they  do  com- 
mence to  see  such  truth,  they  have  no  conception  of  their  rigorous 
obligation  to  follow  it  up  and  to  embrace  it. 

III.  The  answer  to  all  this  is  contained  in  the  words  of  St.  Paul : 
"Without  faith,  it  is  impossible  to  please  God."  Without  faith  there 
is  no  really  good  life — no  life  such  as  God  accounts  good  in  view 
of  a  supernatural  reward.  Without  faith  all  human  goodness  is  un- 
real, deceptive,  and  useless,  except  in  the  natural  order.  Without 
faith  it  is  impossible  for  our  ideas,  our  aims,  our  actions  to  rise  to  that 
elevation  and  assume  that  divine  character  which  God  requires  in 
them.  The  character  of  actions  depends  on  the  being  who  does  them, 
and  upon  his  ideas  and  intentions.  An  irrational  animal  eats 
greedily,  seizes  on  all  it  can  without  regard  to  ownership,  injures 


TRUE  BELIEF  THE   WAY  TO  GOOD  LIFE.  27 

the  one  who  approaches  it  for  its  own  good;  these  actions  are  not 
immoral,  dishonest,  ungrateful;  they  do  not  evidence  a  depraved 
character,  or  excite  the  contempt  we  should  feel  for  a  man  who  did 
such  things.  The  man's  intelligence  and  sense  of  a  moral  law  cause 
the  same  acts,  when  done  by  him,  to  bear  a  very  different  aspect.  So 
when  a  man  lives  for  himself  alone,  his  economies,  or  his  expenditure, 
or  his  toil,  have  a  very  different  character  from  what  they  would 
have  if  he  were  laboring  for  the  support  of  others  dependent  on  him. 
In  like  manner  he  who  believes  in  God,  who  loves  God  with  all  his 
heart,  and  seeks  to  please  Him  and  attain  to  future  perfection  in 
Him,  may  have  the  same  occupation  in  life  as  a  man  who  believes  in 
and  loves  nothing  beyond  himself  and  this  world.  The  lives  and  ac- 
tions of  these  two  men  may  coincide  to  a  great  extent,  there  may  be 
little  difference  visible  to  one  who  sees  only  certain  parts  of  their 
lives;  yet  in  their  intentions  and  motives,  and  in  the  estimation  of 
God,  there  will  be  an  infinite  distance  between  the  acts  of  the  one 
and  the  same  acts  of  the  other.  Even  the  same  acts  of  virtue  will  be 
different  in  them :  in  the  one  man  they  are  natural  and  of  this  world, 
proceeding  only  from  temperament  or  policy;  in  the  other  they  are 
characterized  by  his  faith  and  by  his  love  of  God,  and  are  done 
under  the  influence  of  grace ;  they  are  supernatural  and  divine. 

It  is  in  this  sense  that  good  life  is  impossible  without  faith.  It  is 
not  to  be  said  that  all  the  actions  of  a  man  without  faith  are  sins.  It 
is  not  to  be  said  that  his  life  is  devoid  of  all  goodness,  or  that  he  will 
receive  no  recompense  from  God.  On  the  contrary,  there  is  more  or 
less  natural  good  in  every  man,  all  are  capable  of  doing  some  good 
deeds,  some  men  of  exceptional  endowments  or  opportunities  may 
lead  lives  useful  to  others  and  admired  by  all,  they  may  be  a  model 
even  to  those  who  have  the  faith.  This  we  have  no  wish  to  deny. 
We  admit  also  that  in  the  external  manifestations  of  goodness  there 
may  be  cases  where  there  will  be  little  to  choose  between  the  man 
with  faith  and  the  man  without  faith.  What  we  say  is  this,  that  the 
goodness  in  each  case  proceeds  from  a  different  principle,  and  is  of  a 
different  character.  In  the  one  instance  it  is  supernatural,  it  earns 
an  eternal  reward ;  in  the  other,  it  is  merely  natural  in  origin  and  in 
aim,  its  reward  is  a  merely  natural  and  temporal  one,  and  so  far  it  is 
unreal. 

A  little  later  we  shall  see  that  this  kind  of  good  life  is  not  uncon- 
nected with  faith.  It  indirectly  originates  in  faith,  and  it  often 
becomes  the  source  of  it,  and  so  proves  the  second  of  our  pro- 


2g  l THE   CREED. 

positions :  that  good  life  conduces  to  true  belief.  Good  life  alone  does 
not  lead  directly  to  heaven,  but  it  puts  men  on  the  way  to  those  graces 
which  will  ultimately  bring  them  there. 

IV.  We  go  now  a  step  further,  and  we  say,  that  faith  is  not  only 
necessary  in  order  to  give  our  actions  that  supernatural  quality  which 
makes  them  pleasing  to  God,  but  also  faith  is  necessary  to  enable 
men  to  perform  the  highest  class  of  good  actions  and  lead  lives  of 
high  excellence.  We  may  occasionally  find  men  of  great  goodness 
who  have  not  the  faith,  or  at  least  have  not  a  complete  knowledge  of 
religious  truths;  but  their  highest  goodness  is  not  so  complete,  so 
high,  so  consistent,  or  so  common,  as  that  goodness  which  is  in- 
spired by  true  Christianity.  It  is  exceptional  and  rare,  it  is  partial 
and  variable,  it  is  defective  generally  in  some  important  parts.  There 
are  whole  classes  of  exalted  virtues  which  are  not  only  beyond  the 
reach,  but  beyond  the  conception  of  those  who  have  not  the  faith 
of  Christ.  Such  for  instance  are  chastity,  courageous  endurance  of 
the  trials  of  life,  heroic  self-sacrifice,  the  surrender  of  one's  own 
will,  possessions,  comforts,  life  itself,  for  the  love  of  God  and  one's 
brethren,  confidence  in  God  with  peace  and  contentment  that  surpass- 
eth  all  knowledge.  Such  again  are  mortification  and  rigor  towards 
self,  patience  under  calumny  and  injury,  the  forgiveness  of  injuries, 
prayer  and  absorption  in  God.  These  and  many  other  such  things  are 
spoken  of  by  the  world  as  noble,  but  impracticable,  ideals ;  the  close 
imitation  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  commanded  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment is  regarded,  even  by  some  who  profess  to  be  Christians  and  to 
believe  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  as  injudicious  and  obsolete.  Yet 
such  virtues  are  of  common,  every-day  occurrence,  not  only  in  the 
cloister,  but  in  every  nation,  community,  family  even,  where  the 
Catholic  system  is  received  in  its  entirety.  Even  the  testimony  of 
our  enemies  is  most  abundant  as  to  the  extraordinary  self-devotion 
of  priests  and  missionaries,  the  purity  of  Catholic  districts,  the  in- 
dustry, the  simple  lives,  the  tranquil  happiness  of  truly  Catholic  popu- 
lations, the  indefinable  charm  which  the  Catholic  religion  develops 
in  its  faithful  children.  And  all  this  is  the  fruit  of  true  belief  with 
its  concomitant.  Faith  is  first,  and  from  it  are  derived  the  grace  of 
God,  the  indwelling  of  His  spirit,  the  Sacraments,  the  examples, 
the  devotions,  the  feelings,  that  form  the  perfect  Christian  character. 

The  highest  results  in  the  way  of  good  life  are  attainable  only 
under  the  influence  of  true  and  complete  belief  in  divine  truths. 
Strong  belief  in  a  religion,  whether  incomplete  and  true  as  in  the 


TRUE  BELIEF  THE  WAY  TO  GOOD  LIFE.  29 

case  of  the  Jews  of  old,  or  incomplete  and  false  as  in  the  case  of 
Paganism,  Mohammedanism,  and  Protestantism,  has  produced 
greater  effects  on  men's  lives  than  any  other  motive  outside  religion. 
It  has  engendered  by  turns  a  ruthless  fanaticism,  a  violent  though 
temporary  enthusiasm,  great  organizing  and  subduing  forces,  great 
devotion,  courage,  generosity.  Nay,  further,  there  have  been  a  few 
exceptional  cases  in  those  religions  of  men  who,  if  regarded  in  some 
aspects  only,  and  not  scrutinized  too  closely,  might  almost  seem 
worthy  to  rank  among  the  Catholic  saints.  So  great  is  the  power  of 
the  religious  idea  even  in  its  lowest  manifestations.  But  the  noblest 
type  of  good  living,  the  really  God-like  character,  is  the  creation 
only  of  that  Church  to  which  the  true  and  complete  revelation  of 
Christ  was  committed.  Under  the  Catholic  system,  and  nowhere 
else,  we  find  virtue  the  most  superhuman,  yet  of  ordinary  occurrence ; 
influence  most  powerful  yet  never  tyrannical,  absolute  devotion 
without  any  unreal  and  transient  enthusiasm,  austerity  without 
fanaticism,  profound  unworldliness  united  with  the  fullest  human 
sympathy,  burning  zeal  but  with  no  touch  of  bigotry,  strength  that  is 
not  violence,  calm  that  is  not  apathy.  Nowhere  else  do  we  find  full- 
ness of  belief,  and  consistency  of  doctrines,  and  perfect  certainty; 
nowhere  else  do  we  find  so  many  and  so  exalted  Christian  lives. 

V.  But  we  may  go  further  still  and  say,  that  without  faith,  the  nat- 
ural man  can  not  develop  the  capacities  that  are  within  him;  and 
that  even  the  merely  human,  natural,  and  worldly  virtues  will  wither 
up  and  die,  unless  they  are  nourished  by  the  knowledge  of  super- 
natural truth.  Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to  lead  such  good  lives 
as  will  please  God  even  in  that  lower  degree  in  which  a  natural  life 
may  be  said  to  please  God.  The  fall  of  the  human  race  impaired 
the  natural  as  well  as  the  supernatural  powers  of  men ;  and  it  is,  as 
an  almost  universal  rule,  beyond  the  power  of  the  man  unaided  by 
faith  to  attain  to  that  ideal  of  goodness  which  worldly  men  consider 
possible  and  desirable.  Even  that  standard,  though  it  is  lowered  by 
the  omission  of  all  that  is  exalted  and  difficult  in  Christianity,  is  still 
too  high  for  the  average  unbeliever.  A  considerable  number  may 
have  attained  to  a  high  degree  of  respectable  life  without  faith,  but 
only  because  they  have  inherited  an  exceptional  character  refined 
and  cultivated  through  generations  of  believing  ancestors,  or  be- 
cause they  have  had  educational  advantages  which  can  never  become 
common  to  the  bulk  of  men. 

Apart  from  religious  motives  there  are  not  many  influences  to 


3o  THE   CREED. 

make  men  practise  the  self-restraint  necessary  for  good  life.  Com- 
paratively few  are  endowed  naturally  with  a  noble  or  lofty  character ; 
few  also  are  influenced  by  that  merely  human  but  still  high  law  of 
noblesse  oblige.  Those  who  have  been  imbued  with  a  strict  sense  of 
honor,  or  with  pride  in  the  reputation  of  their  family,  or  who  have 
been  disciplined  by  the  study  of  art  or  science  or  literature,  or  who 
have  lived  in  good  society,  acquire  many  admirable  natural  virtues. 
But  these  privileges  belong  only  to  a  few,  and  their  influence  on  the 
character  is  merely  superficial. 

Something  more  than  natural  and  worldly  inducements  are  re- 
quired to  make  men  practise  those  kinds  of  goodness  which  the 
world  values,  and  which  are  necessary  for  the  comfort  of  others  and 
convenience  of  human  society.  Even  those  virtues  are  difficult  and 
rare.  Honesty,  truthfulness,  benevolence,  disinterestedness,  devotion 
to  the  general  weal,  good-nature,  civility — these  are  not  so  easy  as 
to  come  naturally  to  every  man  who  has  no  faith.  But  unscrupulous- 
ness,  hardness,  selfishness,  spite,  vindictiveness,  self-indulgence — 
these  are  what  come  easiest  to  men  who  have  not  known  the  disci- 
pline, the  restraints,  the  hopes,  and  the  aids  of  religious  belief.  What 
is  there  outside  religion  to  induce  a  man  to  do  that  which  is  difficult 
rather  than  what  is  easy,  to  do  violence  to  his  inclinations  rather 
than  to  gratify  them,  to  prefer  the  interests  of  another  man,  another 
country,  another  age,  to  his  own?  The  great  motive-forces  out- 
side religion  are  power,  possessions,  and  pleasure;  the  pursuit  of 
these  does  not  require  the  assistance  of  the  natural  virtues,  the  en- 
joyment of  them  does  not  conduce  to  the  growth  of  virtue.  No 
force  is  able  to  cope  with  selfishness  and  its  train  of  destructive  vices 
except  the  modest  but  all-conquering  power  of  faith  animated  by 
charity. 

It  is  all  very  well  for  unbelievers,  and  for  those  bewildered  by  the 
contradictions  of  heresy  to  say,  that  deeds  are  more  important  than 
opinions,  and  that  belief  or  unbelief  matters  little  if  only  a  man's 
life  is  good.  Where  can  they  find  widespread  and  consistent  good- 
ness of  life  except  in  conjunction  with  faith?  Take  any  simple, 
pious,  believing  community  of  former  or  present  times — people  who 
believe  in  God  present  and  ruling  them,  as  though  they  saw  Him 
with  their  bodily  eyes,  who  obey  His  law  and  strive  to  save  their 
souls.  Such  a  people  may  be  cultivated  or  comparatively  ignorant, 
comfortable  in  circumstances  or  struggling  against  poverty,  but 
there  you  will  find  a  virtuous  people,  free  from  crime,  contented 


TRUE  BELIEF  THE  WAY  TO  GOOD  LIFE.  31 

and  peaceful,  needing  few  laws,  no  police,  no  jails.  Look 
at  any  country  where  faith  is  on  the  decline  and  religion  is 
dying  out,  and  there  you  will  also  note  the  extinction  of  natural  vir- 
tues, a  growing  brutality  of  manners,  an  alarming  increase  of  im- 
morality, violence  and  fraud.  The  greater  knowledge  and  power  that 
civilization  has  begotten  only  serve  to  organize  crime  on  a  larger 
scale  and  to  render  law  powerless.  The  slow  and  clumsy  advances 
of  legislation  are  unable  to  keep  pace  with  the  quick  ingenuity  of 
crime,  which  so  is  enabled  to  work  destruction  almost  with  impunity. 

The  effect  of  faith  in  developing  the  ordinary  civic  virtues  is  noted 
by  Tertullian  in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity.  Although  persecuted 
by  the  civil  power,  and  alienated  from  the  general  life  of  their  fel- 
low citizens,  the  new  Christians  were  distinguished  for  their  fidelity 
to  their  public  duties.  Although  calumniated  and  despised,  it  was 
recognized  by  the  pagans  that  Christians  were  the  bravest  soldiers 
of  the  empire,  and  that  as  the  faith  spread,  the  public  revenues  raised 
by  the  tax-collectors  steadily  increased.  So  it  is  always.  The  habits 
of  mind  that  supernatural  belief  produces  are  precisely  those  which 
conduce  most  to  civil  order;  such  as  peaceableness,  respect  for  au- 
thority, beneficence  to  all  men,  obedience  and  self-sacrifice. 

VI.  Hitherto  we  have  been  considering  the  absence  of  faith  or 
the  imperfection  of  faith  in  a  general  way,  without  taking  account  of 
its  being  deliberate  or  not.  A  few  remarks  may  be  made  as  to  those 
cases  where  men  deliberately  reject  the  truth,  or  fail  to  inquire  into 
it  when  they  feel  the  impulse  to  do  so. 

This  sort  of  thing  is  not  very  uncommon.  Truth  is  often  unwel- 
come and  brings  tribulation,  especially  when  we  find  ourselves  in 
the  midst  of  men  who  are  committed  to  its  opposite.  It  is  more  to 
our  worldly  interest,  and  it  is  far  easier,  to  go  with  the  multitude 
than  to  oppose  them.  This  is  particularly  true  as  regards  religious 
belief ;  our  blessed  Lord  foretold  it  to  all  those  who  desire  to  be  His 
followers :  "In  the  world  you  shall  have  tribulation.  Blessed  are  you 
when  men  shall  persecute  and  calumniate  you."  It  is  only  to  be 
expected  that  many  should  shrink  from  sacrificing  their  interests  and 
incurring  odium,  and  should  prefer  the  secret  sin  of  insincerity,  which 
disgraces  them  only  before  God  and  their  own  conscience.  There 
are  many  who  know  the  truth  but  will  not  embrace  it  for  fear  of 
consequences;  they  may  lose  their  position,  the  means  of  support, 
their  home,  public  esteem,  the  love  of  their  relatives  and  friends; 
they  will  have  to  meet  coldness,  suspicion,  hatred,  poverty ;  and  their 


3  2  THE   CREED. 

courage  is  not  equal  to  the  sacrifice.  There  are  others  who  have  a 
glimpse  of  the  truth,  and  who  know  that  if  they  inquire  further  they 
will  find  it;  but  they  dread  the  knowledge,  they  wish  to  remain  in 
ignorance  and  avoid  the  conflict  between  conscience  and  interest. 
They  will  not  pursue  the  inquiry  that  will  change  their  doubt  about 
truth  into  certainty;  and  they  delude  themselves  with  the  idea  that 
they  may  safely  shut  their  eyes  to  the  light  so  long  as  it  is  dim  and 
distant,  and  that  a  deliberately  chosen  ignorance  will  save  them  both 
from  the  temporal  disadvantages  of  embracing  the  truth  and  from 
the  spiritual  penalties  of  rejecting  it.  The  sin  in  either  case  is  much 
the  same.  Such  persons  are  sometimes  tempted  to  think  that  they 
can  counterbalance  the  disobedience  in  one  matter  by  additional  fer- 
vor in  others.  They  have  sinned  against  faith,  but  they  will  be  more 
diligent  in  works  of  charity.  They  have  refused  to  serve  God  in  that 
religion  which  He  has  pointed  out  to  them;  but  they  will  worship 
Him  with  more  fervor  and  regularity  in  that  form  out  of  which  He  is 
calling  them.  This  supposed  service  of  God  is  disobedience  and  sin. 
Of  what  avail  is  it  all?  What  is  the  use  of  their  prayers  and  good 
works  ?  The  apostle  answers :  "Without  faith  it  is  impossible  to 
please  God."  The  service  of  the  intellect,  the  submission  to  the 
obedience  of  faith,  is  the  highest  offering  we  can  make  to  God.  To 
withhold  that  is  to  take  back  for  ourselves  the  best  part  of  the  sac- 
rifice, it  is  to  commit  that  "robbery  in  the  holocaust"  which  God 
detests.  The  violation  of  the  one  commandment  makes  a  man 
guilty  of  all.  One  grave  sin  is  a  completed  decisive  severance  of  the 
soul  from  God,  and  all  other  good  works  are  devoid  of  the  super- 
natural impulse,  are  dead  and  useless. 

VII.  The  natural  effect  of  the  Catholic  faith  is  to  give  birth  to  a 
good  life.  There  is  a  logical  force,  a  consistency  in  that  faith,  which 
satisfies  the  most  exacting  intellect;  there  is  a  most  certain  assur- 
ance produced  by  it,  so  that  Catholics  are  ready  to  stake  their  all 
upon  it.  In  no  other  form  of  religion  can  we  find  such  multitudes 
who  are  ready  to  sacrifice  present  and  visible  interests  for  the  sake 
of  the  future  and  unseen.  This  security  enables  men  to  accept  a  lofty 
and  difficult  law.  As  faith  gives  the  Catholic  a  more  adequate  con- 
ception of  God,  so  it  makes  it  easier  for  him  to  love  God.  God  is 
not  to  him  an  abstraction,  as  to  so  many  other  men,  but  He  is  a 
living  personality,  really  present,  in  actual  communication  with  men. 
Hence  springs  that  love  of  God  which  is  the  most  powerful  and 
most  lasting  of  all  forces  in  this  world. 


TRUE  BELIEF  THE  WAY  TO  GOOD  LIFE.  33 

Faith  leads  on  to  other  aids  of  good  life.  It  sets  forth  the  example 
of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  His  most  blessed  mother,  and  His  saints. 
Faith  places  at  our  disposal  the  solemnities  of  worship  and  the  seven 
Sacraments,  with  all  their  numerous  effects  on  the  intellect  and  imag- 
ination, on  the  body,  the  mind,  the  heart;  and  above  all  with  the 
out-pouring  of  grace  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit  into  us.  Holiness  of  life 
is  the  due  and  natural  effect  of  all  these  influences. 

But  faith  is  very  far  from  having  these  effects  universally.  There 
must  of  necessity  be  many  who  receive  the  grace  of  God  in  vain,  in 
whom  His  efficacy  is  quenched,  whose  obstinacy  prevails  even  against 
the  Omnipotent.  For  such  there  is  no  excuse.  They  are  the  worst 
enemies  of  God;  His  severest  anger  and  punishment  are  for  them. 
So  potent  an  influence  as  faith  must  have  great  consequences  and  can 
not  fail  of  its  full  effect.  But  it  has  two  alternative  effects.  The 
first  and  proper  one  is  holiness  of  life.  But  if  it  is  prevented 
violently  from  this  action,  it  still  is  not  nullified;  it  is  not  made 
simply  as  though  it  had  never  been ;  but  it  bursts  forth  with  another 
and  destructive  force  upon  the  sinner  who  has  misused  it.  It  be- 
comes a  curse  to  him  and  a  sentence  of  condemnation.  His  faith 
supplies  him  with  the  materials  of  infidelity,  and  he  falls  to  a  lower 
depth  of  irreligion.  He  has  so  outraged  the  power  of  observing  the 
higher  law  of  holiness,  that  not  enough  remains  to  help  him  to  ob- 
serve the  lower  precepts  of  mere  natural  morality.  The  higher  he 
has  been,  the  lower  he  falls ;  and  his  degraded  life,  which  seems  to 
argue  incapacity  in  the  Catholic  faith  to  command  his  intellect  and 
rule  his  passions,  only  proves  the  power  of  that  faith,  in  that  such 
deep  destruction  follows,  where  it  is  not  allowed  to  find  its  natural 
outlet  in  sanctifying  the  lives  of  men. 


34  THE   CREED. 


IV.   IS  THERE  A  GOD?   IS  THERE  ONLY  ONE  GOD? 

BY  THE  REV.  P.  A.  HALPIN. 

SYNOPSIS.— I.  The  significance  of  the  question.  It  implies  something 
shocking  and  untrue, 

II.  God's  existence  is  a  fact  which  appeals  to  our  reason,  as  is  attested 
by  the  universal  consent  of  mankind,  universal  in  space  and  time,  which 
consent  is  based  on  reason,  -which  affirms  the  relation  between  effect 
and  cause. 

HI.  &  IV.   Scripture  teaches  it  and  so  does  the  Church. 

V.  That  there  is  only  one  God  flows  from  the  nature  of  an  infinite 
Being. 

These  two  questions  are  identical  in  the  sense  that  the  second 
follows  indisputably  from  the  first.  Whoso  admits  one  Supreme 
Being  must  grant  that  two  first  and  highest  entities  are  inadmissi- 
ble. For  the  sake  of  clearness  the  significance  of  the  questions 
will  be  emphasized  and  a  reply  will  be  given  in  the  terms  of  reason 
and  revelation. 

I.  The  Question.  It  may  be  skeptical  or  querulous,  or  blasphemous. 
Has  any  human  being  made  this  query  seriously?  It  is  said  in 
Scripture,  "The  fool  said  in  his  heart:  there  is  no  God"  (Ps.  lii). 
The  denial  of  God's  existence  is,  to  say  the  least,  startling.  No  one 
ever  hears  it  without  a  shock.  It  seems  to  blot  out  sun  and  stars 
and  everything  bright  in  the  world.  It  leaves  behind  it  a  gaping 
chasm  as  it  creates  before  it  unfathomable  gloom.  Perhaps  honesty 
of  declaration,  if  pushed  to  its  most  accurate  expression,  would  re- 
veal that  in  no  man's  mind  has  there  been  absolute  negation  of  the 
existence  of  God.  The  averment'  of  the  prophet  may  be  admitted 
in  the  sense  that  the  one  who  would  make  such  a  declaration  is 
for  the  moment  under  the  spell  of  some  strong  feeling  which  par- 
alyzes his  intellect  and  places  him  in  the  category  of  the  mo- 
mentarily insane.  Only  the  Searcher  of  Hearts  knows  whether  the 
one  who  utters  the  phrase  which  obliterates  God  is  speaking  the 
settled  conviction  of  his  mind  or  is  giving  vent  to  a  doubt,  or 
under  the  pressure  of  some  weighty  woe  asks  in  his  despair,  Is  there 
a  God,  or  is  so  debased  that  he  wishes  for  himself  every  license,  and 
therefore  would  overthrow  God  in  his  frenzied  railings,  overthrow 


IS  THERE  A  GOD?  35 

God  and  His  law  and  be  unto  himself  his  own  law  and  fiis  own 
god. 

The  question  might  be  put  to  all  the  atheists  who  have  figured  in 
history  or  have  lived  since  the  beginning,  whether,  while  they  denied 
with  their  lips,  they  believed  in  their  hearts  or  were  convinced  in 
their  minds  that  such  was  the  fact.  What  would  an  honest  answer 
tell  us?  Many,  very,  very  many,  who  have  studied  this  matter, 
are  of  the  opinion  that  the  answer  of  this  horde  of  unbelievers,  if 
honest,  would  be  that  somewhere  or  other  in  their  nature  there  was 
heard  a  voice  which  could  not  be  quelled  and  which  gave  the  lie  to 
all  their  spoken  or  written  denials.  It  must  be  remembered  that 
bravado  is  rampant  everywhere  and  that  there  is  no  boldness  so 
fierce  as  that  of  those  who  have  invaded,  with  ruthless  spirit,  with 
mind  iconoclastic,  the  sacred  precincts  of  religious  truth.  Some  have 
doubted  this  primal  verity  for  a  time,  and  at  last  shaken  it  off  as 
something  pestilential.  Their  name  is  legion  and  the  history  of 
Christianity  is  full  of  distinguished  individuals  for  whom  skepticism 
was  a  nightmare,  clouding  mind  and  corrupting  heart,  until  on 
some  blessed  day,  or  rather  in  some  blessed  moment,  the  dawn 
broke  and  the  specter  fled  and  God  was  there.  The  spirit  of  impa- 
tience in  trial,  so  frequent  in  life's  struggles,  and  to  which  we  are 
all  so  prone  when  harassed  by  care,  or  baffled  in  our  efforts  or 
our  ambition,  when  loved  ones  suffer  or  are  taken  from  us,  tor- 
tures us  sometimes  into  expressions  or  thoughts  skeptical  in  their 
nature.  Such  expressions  it  would  be  unfair  to  stigmatize  as  blas- 
phemous or  skeptical.  They  are  rather  the  outpouring  of  wonder- 
ment as  to  the  ways  of  Divine  Providence  than  a  denial  of  His 
existence.  They  are  murmurings  merely  upspringing  from  wounded 
and  sore  hearts. 

The  more  closely  one  looks  into  the  matter  the  more  one  is  in- 
clined to  admit  that  the  opinion  negative  of  the  Divinity  has  its 
source  rather  in  license  of  living,  or  pride  of  intellect  begetting  blas- 
phemy. There  is  no  doubt  that  there  are  those  who  live  as  if  God 
was  not,  and  their  mental  attitude  is  one  of  wilful  oblivion  and 
their  atheism  is  more  practical  than  theoretical.  Taking  the  question 
to  be  an  affirmation  we  can  not  but  pronounce  it  horrible,  blasphe- 
mous, ignominious.  Not  in  all  the  languages  of  the  world  is  there 
an  averment  so  universally  revolting.  We  fear  that  to  utter  it 
there  is  required  an  effrontery  and  a  corruption  which  can  proceed 
only  from  a  mind  given  over  to  pride  or  from  a  heart  abandoned 


36  THE    CREED. 

to  every  wicked  desire  and  perhaps  to  the  most  grasping  greed 
and  the  most  abominable  lusts.  The  voice  that  speaks  it  is  the 
voice  of  one  dead  to  the  strongest  instincts  of  nature,  of  one  who 
sets  himself  in  opposition  to  his  whole  environment.  Every  tongue 
— the  tongue  of  man,  all  the  tongues  of  earth,  sea  and  sky — pro- 
claims the  existence  of  God.  The  tongue  of  the  atheist  alone  emits 
the  only  discordant  note  in  this  grand  chorus  of  creatures  hymning 
the  praises  of  the  omnipotent  Creator  of  the  universe.  "Whither 
shall  I  go  from  thy  spirit?  or  whither  shall  I  flee  from  thy  face? 
If  I  take  my  wings  early  in  the  morning  and  dwell  in  the  utter- 
most parts  of  the  sea,  even  there  also  shall  thy  hand  lead  me  and 
thy  right  hand  shall  hold  me"  (Ps.  xxxviii).  What  sphere,  what 
land,  or  what  depth  or  what  height  shall  the  atheist  and  the  scoffer 
inhabit  to  be  screened  from  the  face  of  God  ? 

To  state  that  God  does  not  exist  is  to  state  a  colossal  falsehood 
which  is  branded  both  by  reason  and  revelation. 

II.  Reason  can  not  admit  it,  because  it  finds  nowhere  in  all  the 
attacks  of  unbelief  a  single  solid  argument  in  its  favor,  while  it 
everywhere  discovers  proofs  which  corroborate  the  contradictory 
assertion.  One  grows  weary  of  defending  the  glorious  truths  of 
Christianity  against  enemies  who  advance  no  new  difficulties,  but 
persistently  repeat  those  which  have  been  urged  since  the  begin- 
ning. Let  us  just  as  defiantly  deny  the  atheistic  proposition  as  it  is 
boldly  put  forth.  Let  us  ask  them  to  prove  there  is  no  God.  Have 
they  ever  proved  it?  Have  they  ever,  with  all  their  ingenuity, 
framed  an  argument  of  which  the  propositions  are  undeniable  and 
from  which  the  conclusion,  God  does  not  exist,  is  inevitable?  All 
they  have  alleged  amounts  merely  to  a  slender  "perhaps"  hanging 
on  the  gossamer  thread  of  unreasonable  doubt.  Have  they  ever 
propagated  their  irreligion,  that  is,  so  propagated  it  as  to  plant  in 
minds  a  conviction  immovable  or  to  touch  hearts  with  a  persua- 
sion which  remains  in  spite  of  threats,  persecution  and  death? 

Until  more  forcible  proofs  are  forthcoming  the  belief  in  God's 
existence  will  be  an  inalienable  possession  in  the  domain  of  thought. 
This  is  only  a  negative  reply,  but  positive  answers  are  not  wanting. 

God  is  a  word  we  have  used  since  our  childhood.  Not  only  we 
have  heard  and  used  it,  but  it  had  moreover  a  meaning  for  us. 
Perhaps  we  grasped  its  meaning  more  readily  than  the  significa- 
tion of  anything  else  proposed  to  us.  What  does  this  fact  prove?  It 
proves  that  the  idea  of  a  Supreme  Being  is  natural  to  the  human 


IS   THERE  A  GOD?  37 

soul,  that  this  voice  of  nature  is  sincere  and  unalterable.  "An 
opinion,"  says  a  pagan  philosopher,  "which  has  in  its  favor  the 
positive  testimony  of  the  human  race  can  not  but  be  true."  "What 
all  men,"  writes  another  eminent  heathen,  "hold  instinctively  as 
true,  is  a  truth  of  nature."  When  God  is  glorified,  it  is  the  voice 
of  nature  which  speaks  and  when  God's  existence  is  impugned, 
man's  nature  is  outraged  and  the  denial  is  imputed  as  something 
foreign  and  unnatural.  The  universal  voice  of  nature  can  not  be 
mistaken.  The  universal  tongue  never  utters  a  lie.  This  instinctive 
belief  grows  with  our  development.  If  it  fades  during  the  storm  of 
passion  it  breaks  out  like  a  blaze  at  the  hour  of  death.  Like  a  rain- 
bow it  reaches  from  our  cradle  to  our  grave  and  life  would  be  dark 
without  it.  This  is  fact.  Have  atheists  such  a  fact  in  their  reper- 
toire of  sophistries  ?  There  is  one  process  of  reason  which  seems  to 
be  at  the  bottom  of  this  universal  acclamation  of  mankind.  It  must 
not  be  supposed  that  we  admit  for  a  moment  that  what  is  proclaimed 
by  general  consent  is  the  outcome  of  a  blind  instinct.  It  is  not  so. 
Man  is  eminently  a  rational  being.  When  all  men  combine  in  ut- 
tering one  declaration,  that  declaration  has  its  basis  on  reason. 

All  say  that  there  is  a  God  because  it  is  impossible  to  explain  the 
beings  and  the  energies  with  which  nature  abounds,  without  calling 
into  requisition  a  cause  productive  of  this  wonderful  display  of 
activity.  That  cause  must  be  superior  to  everything  that  it  brings 
into  being  and  must  possess  all  the  perceptible  attributes  in  this 
striking  collection  of  acting  and  living  things,  in  a  higher  degree 
than  that  in  which  they  have  been  communicated.  Effect  always 
calls  for  cause  and  in  the  present  instance  demands  a  cause  supreme 
and  independent,  a  producer  producing  but  unproduced,  a  first 
being,  a  supreme  ordainer.  Man  viewing  the  marvelous  panorama 
of  existence  leaps  with  a  single  and  easy  bound  to  the  existence  of 
an  uncaused  Artificer,  to  a  wise  Arranger,  to  an  all-powerful 
Maker,  in  a  word,  to  one  whose  nature  corresponds  with  what  is 
universally  understood  by  the  term  God. 

There  are  other  proofs  deducible  from  the  logical  working  of 
human  reason.  There  is  conscience,  which  seems  to  attest  that 
there  is  a  law  to  which  all  human  legislation  is  subject,  which  in  its 
larger  principles  can  neither  be  ignored  nor  evaded,  and  which  sup- 
poses a  Lawgiver  who  is  His  own  law  and  has  no  peer  and  whose 
sanction  is  secure  and  sacred  beyond  the  power  of  human  language 
to  express.  No !  God  has  not  left  Himself  without  testimony.  All 


38  THE   CREED. 

the  arguments  may  be  reduced  to,  and  in  point  of  fact  are  included 
in,  that  very  elementary  truth  that  every  effect  implies  a  cause  and 
the  long  chain  of  effects  and  causes  eventually  ends  and  begins 
with  God. 

In  the  course  of  a  single  sermon  it  is  impossible  to  discuss  all 
the  proofs  founded  on  reason  alone;  nay,  it  is  hardly  possible  to 
present  one  single  argument  with  anything  like  thoroughness. 

III.  But  reason  alone  is  not  our  only  guide  in  this  momentous 
question.     There  is  the  direct  revelation  from  God,  whether  we 
take  it  from  Holy  Writ  or  from  the  mouth  of  the  infallible  Church. 
What  has  been  the  teaching  of  Scripture?    Countless  are  the  pas- 
sages  which   illustrate  this   fundamental   truth   and   illumine   any 
sincere  thinker  in  an  honest  search  after  the  things  of  God.     The 
inspired  writings  proclaim  not  only  that  God  is,  but  that  He  is 
spiritual  and  simple,  and  one  in  His  very  essence.     That  He  con- 
tains in  His  immensity  which  is  the  plenitude  of  being,  which  is  an 
ocean  of  being,  shoreless,  with  depth  unfathomable  and  height  un- 
scalable and  breadth  immeasurable.    That  He  is  infinite  and  eternal, 
immutable  and  inscrutable  as  well  as  incomprehensible.     That  He 
is  unalterable.    That  He  is  all  perfect.    That  language  stammers  in 
its  efforts  to  describe  Him.    He  is  confined  by  no  definition.    He  is 
beyond  all  description.    That,  in  a  word,  He  is  the  Alpha  and  the 
Omega  of  everything. 

Finally,  Sacred  Scripture  pays  this  fine  compliment  to  human 
reason,  that  God  can  be  known  by  the  things  that  are  made.  Study 
that  classic  first  chapter  of  Paul  to  the  Romans  wherein  it  is 
affirmed  that  the  invisible  things  of  Him,  from  the  creation  of  the 
world,  are  clearly  seen,  being  understood  by  the  things  that  are 
made;  His  eternal  power  also  and  divinity,  so  that  they  are  inex- 
cusable. In  the  face  of  such  a  proclamation  what  excuse  can  a 
man  give  for  ignoring  the  existence  of  God?  What  an  incentive 
is  there  not  in  it,  to  study  the  ways  of  Nature  and  through  them 
travel  and  find  and  possess  the  First  and  only  Fair !  What  a  trum- 
pet call  it  is  to  Science  to  push  its  investigation  further  and  fur- 
ther in  a  spirit  of  reverence  and  worship!  No  doubt  about  the 
mission  of  Science.  It  is  held  to  two  obligations — conscientious  ac- 
curacy and  the  pointing  out  to  blinder  mortals  the  coruscations  of 
the  infinite. 

IV.  The  voice  of  the  Church  is  only  an  echo  of  the  voice  of 
Scripture.    Holding  fast  by  the  assertion  of  Paul  she  teaches  that 


IS   THERE  A   GOD?  39 

God  is  easily  known  by  the  natural  powers  of  reason.  Were  it 
a  fact  which  was  attainable  with  great  difficulty  only,  St.  Paul 
would  not  have  branded  the  heathen  as  inexcusable.  As  Job  (xii) 
tells  us :  "Ask  the  beasts  and  they  shall  teach  thee,  and  the  birds  of 
the  air  and  they  shall  tell  thee.  Speak  to  the  earth  and  it  shall 
answer  thee  and  the  fishes  of  the  sea  shall  tell.  Who  is  ignorant 
that  the  hand  of  the  Lord  has  made  all  these  things?" 

The  Popes  and  the  Councils  from  the  very  beginning  have 
championed  this  great  truth.  It  is  expressed  so  frequently  and 
always  supposed  in  every  one  of  her  dogmatic  utterances.  It  was 
heralded  to  the  whole  world  and  to  all  after  ages  at  the  first  ecu- 
menical gathering,  and  Sunday  after  Sunday,  yes,  day  after  day, 
the  people  stand  in  close  unity  with  the  celebrant  of  the  Holy  Sac- 
rifice of  the  Mass  to  proclaim  that  they  believe  in  one  only  God,  in 
attesting  that  God  is  and  that  that  God  is  alone  and  one. 

V.  This  brings  us  to  the  second  question  which  we  have  under- 
taken to  elucidate  for  your  instruction.  Is  there  only  one  God? 
The  answer  is  positive,  as  you  were  taught  in  your  Catechism. 
There  is  only  one  God.  This  unity  of  the  Divinity  is  a  prerogative 
of  the  sublimity  of  His  nature.  Not  only  is  there  only  one  God  but 
there  can  be  but  one  God.  Here  again  we  appeal  to  reason.  What 
Scripture  and  the  Church  affirm  on  this  point  our  human  reason, 
be  it  said  in  all  humility  and  reverence,  confirms.  "Before  me 
there  was  no  God  formed  and  after  me  there  shall  be  none" 
(Isaias  xliii).  "I  am  the  Lord  and  there  is  none  else:  there  is  no 
God  besides  me"  (Isaias  xlv,  5).  "One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  bap- 
tism" (Eph.  iv,  5).  "One  God  and  Father  of  all"  (Eph.  iv,  6). 

Certainly  these  pronouncements  are  as  unconditional  as  they  are 
impressive.  This  has  ever  been  the  mind  of  the  Church.  What 
does  reason  testify?  Can  the  greatest  have  an  equal?  Is  there  any 
demand  for  a  second  Deity?  Reason  disapproves  of  multiplying 
beings  without  a  necessity  for  their  existence.  Reason  will  go  so 
far  as  to  call  absurd  the  co-existence  of  two  infinite  beings.  What 
difference  would  there  be  between  them  unless  one  had  something 
which  the  other  did  not  possess  ?  If  so,  then  the  one  lacking  would 
be  lesser  than  the  other  and  if  lesser  not  infinite,  and  if  not  infinite 
therefore  inferior,  therefore  subordinate,  therefore  not  God.  Our 
Catechism  has  the  true  answer  to  the  question.  It  says :  There  can 
be  but  one  God  because  God  is  all-perfect  and  infinite  and  there- 
fore can  not  have  an  equal. 


4o  THE    CREED. 

This  much  by  way  of  a  brief  answer  to  the  double  question  pro- 
pounded: "Is  there  a  God  and  is  there  but  one  God?"  There  are 
two  ways  of  professing  our  belief  in  the  Supreme  Being.  We  con- 
fess His  existence  and  His  unity,  which  here  is  the  unity  of  exclu- 
sion of  other  gods,  in  obedience  to  our  reason  and  in  obedience 
to  the  revelation  manifested  through  His  Scripture  and  His  Church. 
We  can  not  force  ourselves  to  believe  that  any  man,  however  bar- 
barous, has  ever  said  to  himself  with  a  sense  of  that  conviction 
which  brings  rest  to  searching  minds,  that  there  is  no  God.  We 
can  not  but  think  that  such  a  man  is  an  outlaw  from  the  other 
members  of  the  human  family  of  which  God  is  the  Father;  that 
he  is  a  traitor  to  his  strongest  instincts,  a  rebel  against  his  reason. 
It  would  seem  that  such  a  man  is  inexcusable.  Let  us  thank  God 
that  we  know  with  a  knowledge  which  can  not  be  shaken,  because 
it  is  bulwarked  by  faith  and  reason,  that  He  is  and  that  all  He 
does  works  for  the  welfare  of  those  who  love  Him. 


THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD.  41 

V.  THE  ATTRIBUTES  OF  GOD. 

BY  THE  REV  F.  HARVEY. 

"I  believe  in  God." 

SYNOPSIS.- Study  of  the  attribute*  of  God  ir  the  one  means  of  gaining 
the  knowledge  of  Htm  necessary  for  our  spiritual  life.  His  attributes 
(a)  negative,  i.  e.,  denying  any  limitation  in  Him;  and  (&)  positive: 
i.  e..  affirming  certain  perfections,  (a)  Negative:  I,  God  is  a  pure  spirit; 
our  belief  in  His  personality  in  no  way  interferes  with  our  conception  of 
His  spiritual  nature;  2,  He  is  immutable  and  eternal;  satisfying  the  crav- 
ings of  the  human  heart  for  rest  amid  the  ceaseless  changes  of  life;  3, 
God  i*  omnipresent;  a  thought  that  if  entertained  constantly  must  make 
us  saints,  (b)  Positive:  I,  God  is  infinitely  good;  and  His  goodness  is 
leavening  the  world,  transforming  our  failures  and  our  sins;  2,  God  is 
infinitely  wise,  hence  we  may  trust  Him  in  all  things  as  a  child  may  trust 
the  love  and  wisdom  of  a  parent;  3,  God  is  infinitely  just;  not  with  the 
rigorous  severity  of  human  justice.  His  infinite  knowledge  makes  His 
justice  almost  a  synonym  of  mercy;  4,  God  is  infinitely  holy.  It  is  par- 
ticipation in  this  holiness  that  makes  us  men  in  the  supernatural  order 
as  our  reason  distinguishes  us  in  the  natural.  The  whole  purpose  of  our 
moral  existence  is  to  grow  in  this  holiness  of  our  God,  and  to  this  end 
we  should  think  often  of  His  attributes. 

Though  God  is  our  Father,  He  yet  "dwells  in  light  inaccessible," 
and  no  man  may  know  Him  as  He  is.  Yet  we  are  told  that  our 
chief  business  in  life  is  to  know  God,  to  love  Him,  and  to  serve  Him. 
Knowledge  of  God  is  the  foundation  on  which  we  raise  the  super- 
structure of  the  spiritual  life.  This  knowledge  is  absolutely  essen- 
tial to  our  spiritual  well-being  here,  and  to  our  eternal  life  hereafter ; 
and  groping  as  we  are  in  the  twilight  of  mortality,  it  is  to  be  gained 
only  by  meditation  on  the  divine  attributes. 

Indeed,  it  is  by  their  attributes  that  we  learn  to  know  and  to  love 
our  earthly  friends.  One  becomes  dear  to  us  because  of  his  kindli- 
ness, another  wins  our  admiration  by  his  learning,  another  gains 
our  reverence  for  his  courage  and  his  truth ;  and  so  these  qualities, 
these  attributes,  bring  us  into  communion  with  that  inner  na- 
ture of  our  fellow  men,  who  else  would  remain  to  us  but  strangers. 
So  it  is,  too,  that  we  come  to  know  and  to  love  our  heavenly  Father, 
and  thus  fulfill  the  end  of  our  earthly  being. 

What  we  may  term  the  fundamental  attribute  of  the  Most  High 
is  His  simplicity,  His  entire  spirituality.  God  is  a  pure  spirit.  His 


42  THE    CREED. 

nature  admits  neither  higher  nor  lower;  is  entirely  incommunicable. 
There  is  in  Him  no  admixture  of  the  material  or  corporeal,  hence  we 
must  gain  our  knowledge  of  His  nature  by  denying  to  it  the  essen- 
tial characteristics  of  what  we  see  about  us.  "To  whom,  then,  have 
you  likened  God,  or  what  image  will  you  make  for  him?"  says  the 
Prophet  Isaias. 

In  this  connection  we  may  mention  a  very  common  error  enter- 
tained by  many  Protestants  and  by  most  rationalists  about  the  Cath- 
olic idea  of  God.  They  say  that  we  worship  a  personal  God,  mean- 
ing thereby,  a  corporeal  being  like  ourselves,  a  sublimated  man,  as  it 
were;  and  they  conclude  that  our  religion  can  not  possibly  be 
spiritual,  since  it  has  such  a  foundation.  This  error  is  due  to  their 
ignorance  of  the  meaning  attached  to  the  word  "person."  By  a 
person  we  mean  a  being  who  is  responsible  for  his  acts;  one  to 
whom  an  act  may  be  imputed  as  to  a  responsible  agent.  The  lower 
animals,  for  instance,  are  not  held  morally  responsible  for  their 
actions,  since  they  lack  the  source  of  responsibility — reason,  and 
so  are  not  spoken  of  as  persons.  Now  a  person,  or  responsible  being, 
is  not  necessarily  material  or  corporeal,  and  when  we  speak  of  a  per- 
sonal God  we  mean  a  pure  spirit  to  whom  the  various  acts  of 
Deity,  such  as  creation,  redemption,  and  sanctification,  may  be  im- 
puted as  to  a  responsible  being.  Our  God  is,  indeed,  a  Person,  but 
none  the  less  is  He  a  pure  spirit,  and,  in  the  words  of  the  apostle, 
"Those  who  adore  him  should  adore  him  in  spirit  and  in  truth." 

Necessarily  connected  with  this  doctrine,  that  God  is  entirely 
spiritual,  is  that  of  His  unchangeableness.  "The  same  yesterday, 
to-day  and  forever."  All  about  us,  and  all  within  us,  is  change.  The 
leaves  fall  and  die,  and  others  push  forth  to  take  their  places.  The 
days  and  years  speed  on  in  ceaseless  alternation.  Empires  and 
nations  rise  and  flourish,  then  are  leveled  with  the  dust.  And  our 
own  hearts  but  mirror  the  seething  change  without  us.  Gloom  fol- 
lows gladness.  The  prizes  that  we  strive  for  with  all  the  ardor  of 
our  souls  are  tossed  aside  as  apples  of  Sodom.  Our  most  supreme 
mortal  love  becomes  inevitably  but  a  friendship  sustained  by  habit, 
or  a  vague  indifference ;  our  most  tragic  sorrow  turns  to  a  mild  won- 
der at  our  grotesque  despair,  and  at  last  to  utter  forgetfulness.  Yet 
with  all  this  beating  upon  us  of  the  mighty  sea  of  change,  the  heart 
longs  persistently  for  some  assured  rest ;  something  that  will  anchor 
us  to  the  granite  of  God's  eternity.  Our  every-day  speech  echoes  this 
yearning  of  our  nature  for  the  immutable.  "Forever,"  is  a  word 


THE   ATTRIBUTES   OF   GOD.  43 

constantly  on  our  lips.  Our  possessions,  we  say,  are  to  be  ours  "for- 
ever;" our  vows  of  friendship  and  of  love  hide  their  frail  mor- 
tality beneath  such  words  as  "eternal,"  "undying,"  "endless,"  and 
the  like. 

This  instinctive  longing  for  the  immutable  God  was  implanted  in 
our  hearts  that  we  may  more  surely  come  to  rest  in  Him.  In  our 
ceaseless  turning  from  the  changing  life  about  and  within  us;  in 
our  eager  search  for  some  stable  resting-place,  we  learn  at  length 
the  consoling  and  sustaining  strength  of  that  attribute  of  our  God, 
His  changelessness.  "I  am  who  am,"  says  the  Lord.  Always  the 
same,  in  substance,  in  knowledge  and  in  will.  He  can  acquire  no 
new  knowledge,  can  formulate  no  new  decrees,  for  He  has  known  all 
things  and  has  decreed  that  His  holy  will  be  done  from  all  eternity. 
How  consoling  is  this  thought,  that  amid  the  vicissitudes  and  changes 
of  our  mortal  life,  when  the  hearts  of  friends  grow  cold,  and  our 
hopes  have  withered  one  by  one,  we  may  turn  to  the  unchanging  love 
and  eternal  inspiration  of  our  Father  who  art  in  heaven. 

Closely  related  to  the  immutability  and  the  eternity  of  God,  is  His 
immensity,  whereby  He  is  really  and  truly  present  to  all  things  that 
exist,  or  that  possibly  can  exist. 

This  attribute  of  God  is  threefold ;  for  not  only  is  He  everywhere 
by  reason  of  His  knowledge,  by  which  He  knows  all  things,  and  by 
reason  of  His  power,  by  which  He  acts  in  all  things,  but  also  by 
reason  of  His  divine  nature,  whereby  He  is  in  His  entirety  in  all 
places.  He  is  not  present  in  a  circumscribed  manner  as  are  things 
corporeal,  partially  in  one  place  and  partially  in  another,  nor  as  are 
the  angels,  in  some  special  place,  though  in  their  entirety  in  every 
part  of  that  place,  but  He  is  all  in  all  places,  yet  no  place  can  be 
said  to  contain  Him.  This  may  be  deduced  from  the  fact  that  He  is 
the  primal  cause  of  all  things,  acting  upon  each  and  every  thing  to 
bring  it  into  existence,  to  preserve  it,  and  to  rule  it;  and  since  He 
can  not  act  where  He  is  not,  it  follows  that  He  must  be  in  direct 
communication  with  that  upon  which  He  is  immediately  acting,  for 
there  is  no  distinction  between  His  power  and  Himself;  they  are 
one.  "Whither  shall  I  go  from  thy  spirit,  and  whither  shall  I  fly 
from  thy  face?"  sings  the  Psalmist.  "If  I  ascend  into  heaven,  thou 
art  there ;  if  I  descend  into  hell,  thou  art  present.  If  I  take  my  wings 
early  in  the  morning  and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea; 
even  there  also  shall  thy  hand  lead  me,  and  thy  right  hand  shall 
hold  me." 


44 


THE    CREED. 


Pleasing  and  dreadful  thought!  Never  are  we  for  an  instant  out 
of  God's  presence.  He  is  all  and  entirely  in  the  innermost  depths  of 
my  heart,  and  is  just  as  close  to  the  one  who  is  near  and  dear  to  me, 
yet  separated  from  me  by  the  boundless  sea,  and  my  whispered 
prayer  for  my  friend's  welfare  is  breathed  into  the  heart  of  that  God 
who  is  present  to  us  both.  The  stars  that  write  His  name  in  letters 
of  golden  fire  on  heaven's  firmament,  are  proclaiming  His  presence ; 
and  the  dewdrop  that  sparkles  on  the  leaf  holds  God  within  its 
trembling  heart.  The  foul  thought  is  born  in  His  very  presence ;  the 
wicked  deed  is  done  before  His  face;  the  ribald  or  blas- 
pheming jest  strikes  first  upon  His  ear.  How  careful  we 
are  to  keep  our  disparaging  opinion,  our  harsh  criticism  from 
the  hearing  of  him  against  whom  it  is  directed;  but  our  offenses 
against  God  are  committed  in  His  presence,  nay,  in  Himself, 
adding  to  the  injury  of  sin  the  insult  of  a  direct  attack.  True 
it  is  that  we  forget  this  attribute  of  our  heavenly  Father,  forget  that 
our  sins  are  perpetrated  before  Him,  but  our  forgetfulness  is  a  poor 
excuse  for  the  injury  done.  The  forgetfulness  of  the  train- 
despatcher  does  not  restore  the  lives  of  those  who  have  perished 
through  his  carelessness.  "With  desolation  is  the  world  made  deso- 
late, because  there  is  no  one  who  thinketh  in  his  heart."  Did  we 
keep  in  mind  this  great  truth,  that  God  is  ever  with  us  and  in  us, 
sin  would  have  no  part  in  our  lives,  and  each  day  would  see  us 
growing  more  and  more  into  the  likeness  of  that  Divine  Presence 
in  whom  we  actually  live  and  move  and  have  our  being. 

Besides  these  negative  attributes — negative  because  they  deny  any 
limitation  in  God — which  help  to  make  us  understand  the  infinite 
difference  between  the  Creator  and  the  creature,  there  are  positive 
attributes,  which  predicate  of  our  heavenly  Father  certain  perfec- 
tions, such  as  goodness,  wisdom,  mercy,  justice  and  holiness. 

God's  goodness,  as  we  shall  now  consider  it,  is  none  other  than 
His  love  for  creatures.  There  is,  of  course,  in  Him  that  natural 
goodness  which  flows  from  the  infinite  perfection  of  His  nature,  and 
the  moral  goodness,  which  is  but  another  term  for  His  sanctity ;  but 
it  is  what  the  theologians  call  the  relative  goodness  of  God  that  has 
for  us  a  peculiar  strength  of  appeal,  for  that  is  the  goodness  which 
characterizes  His  relations  with  us.  This  divine  goodness  shows 
itself  in  many  ways.  It  manifests  itself  in  acts,  as  in  the  benign 
working  of  natural  laws,  and  then  we  call  it  God's  beneficence;  it- 
is  but  another  name  for  grace,  which  is  the  divine  goodness  bestow- 


THE   ATTRIBUTES    OF    GOD.  45 

ing  supernatural  gifts  on  undeserving  creatures.  As  liberality,  it 
dispenses  its  benefits  without  stint;  clothed  in  the  garments  of  pa- 
tience and  long-suffering  it  delays  to  punish  the  wicked.  Under 
the  name  of  mercy  it  succors  the  wretched,  and  as  clemency  remits 
sin  and  the  punishment  due  it.  God's  infinite  goodness  and  mercy  wait 
upon  our  every  step.  He,  the  source  of  all  happiness,  longs  to  com- 
municate His  happiness  to  creatures,  and  we  have  but  to  open  our 
hearts,  remove  the  choking  weeds  of  care  and  worldly  pleasure,  to 
realize  that  goodness  fully.  Every  song  bird's  note  that  makes  the 
air  vocal  with  melody  is  not  only  a  hymn  of  praise,  but  an  evidence 
of  God's  goodness,  which  would  awaken  a  pure  joy  in  our  hearts. 
The  rain  that  causes  the  parched  earth  to  exult  for  gladness,  is  the 
gift  of  our  beneficent  Father.  Even  the  sorrow  and  disappointment 
that  weigh  us  to  the  earth  may  be  as  truly  a  proof  of  God's  goodness 
as  the  pain  which  a  parent  inflicts  in  correcting  and  training  a  child 
is  an  evidence  of  that  parent's  love.  Evil  is  in  the  world,  and  much 
of  it,  but  God's  goodness  is  ever  working  in  it  and  through  it, 
leavening  it,  and  slowly  but  surely  changing  it  to  good.  "All  things 
work  together  for  good  to  those  that  love  God,"  are  words  whose 
truth  grows  upon  us  with  the  passing  years.  So  many  of  us  can 
look  back  upon  trials  and  difficulties,  upon  sorrows  that  griped  the 
heart,  and  seemed  to  wring  the  very  life  from  it,  and  feel  that  we 
are  better  men  and  women  to-day  because  of  our  Calvary.  To  how 
many  have  troubles  and  failures  and  disappointments  been  stepping- 
stones  to  higher  things ;  been  to  our  spiritual  eyes  as  the  touch  of  the 
sorrowing  Saviour,  unsealing  our  sight,  and  making  us  to  see  the 
things  of  this  life  in  their  true  proportion!  When  we  ponder  it  in 
our  hearts,  and  look  at  it  in  the  light  of  our  Holy  Faith,  we  realize 
more  and  more  that  God's  goodness  is  enfolding  us  round  about, 
and  changing  sins  and  sufferings  and  temptations  into  life-giving 
grace  as  the  air  transforms  noxious  vapors  into  health-giving  atmos- 
phere. There  is  more  of  good  than  of  ill  in  human  nature,  necessar- 
ily so,  for  we  belong  to  God ;  we  are  His  creation,  and  His  goodness 
it  is  that  sustains  us.  We  might  say  that  we  are  drawing  that 
goodness  of  our  God  into  us  constantly  with  the  very  elements  that 
are  ever  renewing  our  physical  being.  His  goodness  is  then  a  part 
of  us,  a  part  that  will  gradually  purge  out  the  old  leaven,  and  make 
of  the  sin-sodden  human  race  a  people  who  are  true  children  of 
God,  good  with  the  goodness  of  their  heavenly  Father. 

Closely  related  to  this  all-embracing  goodness,  is  God's  infinite 


46  THE    CREED. 

wisdom,  "which  worketh  from  end  to  end  mightily  and  ordereth  all 
things  sweetly."  This  wisdom  of  our  God  supposes  perfect  knowl- 
edge on  His  part  of  what  is  best  for  His  children,  and  supposes,  too, 
His  power  to  bring  it  about. 

Not  only  do  the  Sacred  Scriptures  assure  us  again  and  again  that 
God  has  done  all  things  wisely  and  well,  but  that  He  is  the  very 
source  of  all  wisdom.  "All  wisdom  is  from  the  Lord  God,  and 
hath  been  always  with  him,  and  is  from  all  time."  "If  any  one  of 
you  want  wisdom,  let  him  ask  it  of  God  who  giveth  to  all  men 
abundantly,  .  .  .  and  it  shall  be  given  him." 

We  are  apt  to  be  very  forgetful  of  this  attribute  of  our  Maker. 
Men  in  their  folly  are  continually  passing  judgment  on  the  wisdom 
of  God.  Their  experience  teaches  them  that  they  are  constantly 
making  mistakes  when  they  attempt  to  judge  the  actions  of  their 
fellow  men.  They  find  that  there  are  numberless  things  that  have 
gone  to  direct  a  man's  motives  that  they  are  ignorant  of,  and  which 
when  they  learn,  cause  them  to  reverse  their  decision,  but  the  orderly 
government  of  the  Universe  by  Him  who  holds  it  in  the  hollow  of 
His  hand,  is  condemned  offhand,  if  not  in  so  many  words,  yet  by 
a  rebellious  questioning  that  is  little  short  of  blasphemous.  In  our 
egoism  we  think  that  the  ends  we  have  in  view  are  those  which  God 
should  wish  to  have  accomplished.  We  realize  that  the  child  is  in- 
capable of  grasping  the  intentions  of  an  adult,  separated  from  it  by 
some  few  years,  yet,  in  practice  at  least,  we  think  ourselves  able 
to  form  an  appreciation  of  the  motives  that  actuate  the  infinite  and 
eternal  God. 

The  whole  history  of  God's  dealings  with  man  shows  man's  in- 
ability to  grasp  the  wisdom  of  God's  ways,  yet  the  knowledge  of  this 
history  has  not  the  effect  on  the  individual  heart  which  it  should 
have.  Again  and  again  it  has  been  shown  that  what  we  of  this 
world  deem  folly  and  weakness  are  the  very  wisdom  and  strength 
of  God.  The  weakness  of  Bethlehem  and  the  folly  of  Calvary  have 
renewed  the  face  of  the  earth.  In  the  strength  of  that  weakness 
myriads  have  faced  cheerfully  death  by  torture  or  the  more  subtle 
martyrdom  of  lives  of  self-denial.  In  the  wisdom  of  that  folly  God's 
messengers  have  overturned  and  brought  to  naught  the  most  care- 
fully planned  systems  of  man  and,  through  this  foolishness  of  the 
Most  High,  have  reared  a  structure  that  has  won  the  reverent  ad- 
miration of  the  greatest  minds  of  every  age.  Such  is  the  history  of 
the  establishment  and  continuance  of  our  religion,  yet  this  great 


THE   ATTRIBUTES   OF   GOD. 


47 


lesson  has  small  effect  in  lessening  our  complaints  of  what  we  do  not 
understand  in  the  working  out  of  God's  promises.  We  still  con- 
tinue to  murmur  against  the  sorrows  and  disappointments  that  are 
adding  to  our  spiritual  stature,  and  making  us  in  very  deed  children 
of  God.  We  admit  that  Christ's  life  on  earth  was  a  demonstration  of 
divine  wisdom,  but  can  not  realize  that  we,  His  brethren,  should 
come  under  the  same  wise  law  of  suffering.  The  other  attributes  of 
God  we  accept  unquestioningly,  and,  though  we  would  shrink  in 
horror  from  any  expression  of  doubt  regarding  God's  wisdom,  yet 
by  our  unwillingness  to  be  guided  by  His  laws,  and  by  our  lack  of 
submission  to  the  divine  will,  we  question  the  wisdom  of  our 
heavenly  Father,  and  the  efficiency  of  His  government  True,  it  is 
lack  of  faith  that  underlies  this  mistrust.  Did  we  have  a  realizing 
sense  of  what  we  profess,  our  hearts  would  be  filled  with  that  per- 
fect peace  which  flows  from  an  absolute  reliance  upon  the  wisdom 
of  a  loving  Father. 

We  now  come  to  the  consideration  of  the  justice  of  God.  Justice 
is  of  two  kinds,  one  which  renders  to  another  his  due,  gives  some- 
tiling  for  value  received,  and  the  other,  which  rewards  and  punishes 
a  subject  according  to  that  subject's  deserts. 

It  is  evident  that  justice  in  the  first  sense  can  not  be  predicated 
of  God,  since,  strictly  speaking,  He  can  receive  nothing  from  us, 
for  all  we  have  is  already  His.  To  Him,  however,  belongs  retribu- 
tive justice,  the  justice  which  rewards  and  punishes.  "Thou  art 
just,  O  Lord,"  says  Tobias,  "and  all  thy  judgments  are  just,  and 
a'l  thy  ways  mercy  and  truth  and  judgment."  And  St  Paul  ex- 
claims •  "There  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  justice,  which  the  Lord, 
the  just  judge,  will  render  to  me  in  that  day."  Indeed,  there  is  a 
cry  in  the  human  heart  that  proclaims  more  loudly  than  any  external 
testimony,  the  existence  of  a  just  God.  The  intertwining  of  the 
threads  of  good  and  evil  in  the  warp  and  woof  of  human  life,  de- 
mands, we  feel,  the  unraveling  hand  of  a  just  and  omnipotent  Being. 

Sometimes  we  are  frightened  at  the  thought  of  God's  justice.  It 
is,  in  truth,  a  dread  thought,  but  not  the  terrifying  thing  our  ignor- 
ance would  make  it  To  the  general  mind,  justice  is  something 
hard  and  formal,  a  rigid  and  literal  application  of  law  to  some  par- 
ticular case.  So  common  is  this  idea  of  the  severe  and  unyielding 
character  of  justice,  that  Shylock's  claim  of  the  pound  of  flesh  is 
strenuously  defended,  and  Portia's  interference  as  strenuously  con- 
demned. Yet  in  that  great  poem  she  symbolizes  true  justice,  which 


48  THE    CREED. 

is  so  closely  intertwined  with  charity  that  our  gross  sight  can 
scarce  perceive  any  distinction.  There  is  never  any  real  conflict 
between  God's  justice  and  his  mercy,  for  His  all-embracing  knowl- 
edge reconciles  the  two.  Human  justice  condemns  some  unfortu- 
nate who  has  violated  a  law;  divine  justice,  which  knows  the 
strength  of  his  temptation  and  the  frailty  of  his  will,  bids  him  go 
in  peace.  On  the  other  hand,  the  man  who  legally  holds  vast  pos- 
sessions, receiving  the  honor  and  applause  that  wait  upon  success, 
may  sue  in  vain  for  absolution  at  the  tribunal  of  penance,  and,  ac- 
cepted by  men,  stand  rejected  of  God. 

In  how  many  cases  have  we  condemned  the  action  of  our  fellow- 
man  with  perfect  and  impartial  justice,  as  we  think,  and  later  been 
obliged  to  alter  our  decision  because  we  have  learned  of  certain 
extenuating  circumstances.  Knowledge  it  is  that  makes  justice 
tender.  There  is  no  danger  for  us  in  God's  justice  if  our  will  is 
upright  before  Him,  be  the  world's  condemnation  what  it  may.  Our 
frailties  are  covered  by  His  justice,  which  knows  all  things,  and 
then  that  justice  is  the  synonym  of  mercy  and  of  love. 

God's  omnipresence,  His  unchangeableness,  His  existence  from  all 
eternity,  demand  our  reverent  worship ;  His  goodness,  mercy,  knowl- 
edge, and  even  His  justice  win  our  confidence  and  our  love;  but 
the  contemplation  of  His  holiness  it  is  that  sanctifies  us  above  all 
things,  leads  us  along  the  road  of  perfection  until  we  join  our 
voices  to  that  heavenly  choir  singing,  "Holy,  Holy,  Holy,  Lord  God  of 
hosts."  Indeed,  we  could  not  bear  the  white  light  of  that  holiness 
did  we  not  gaze  at  it  through  other  attributes  of  our  God.  The 
most  perfect  human  virtue,  the  heroic  purity  of  the  saints,  the  very 
sanctity  of  the  immaculate  Mother  of  God,  are  but  reflected  rays 
of  that  dazzling  sun  of  holiness.  This  attribute  of  the  Deity  inspires 
the  angelic  song,  is  the  never-ending  theme  of  their  praise.  Before 
this  holiness  the  very  seraphim  veil  their  faces,  and  those  created 
intelligences  that  stand  nearest  to  the  unapproachable  God  tremble 
at  its  dazzling  beauty.  And  yet  we  are  commanded  to  imitate  this 
holiness  of  our  God.  He  has  revealed  Himself  to  us  that  we  may 
know  His  holiness  and  desire  to  have  a  share  in  it.  True,  there  is 
an  infinite  difference  between  the  holiness  of  God  and  the  holiness 
of  man,  for  God  is  holy  by  His  very  essence,  while  creatures  become 
holy  by  the  infusion  of  this  supernatural  quality.  Holiness  is  the 
conformity  of  the  will  with  the  supreme  moral  law,  but  God  is  Him- 
self that  supreme  moral  law,  so  that  divine  holiness  may  be  de- 


THE   ATTRIBUTES   OF   GOD.  49 

scribed  as  the  harmony  existing  between  the  will  of  God  and  all 
His  actions.  The  sanctity  of  God  can  neither  increase  nor  diminish, 
while  that  of  His  creatures  may  grow  indefinitely,  and  may  diminish 
until  it  is  utterly  lost.  We  might  say  that  as  in  the  natural  order 
man  is  distinguished  from  the  brute  by  his  reason,  and  losing  that 
reason  he  becomes  practically  animal,  so  in  the  supernatural  order 
he  is  man  because  of  his  share  in  God's  holiness,  forfeiting  which,  he 
sinks  to  the  level  of  the  devil  and  his  host. 

The  entire  purpose  of  our  mortal  existence  is  to  grow  into  the 
image  of  this  glory  of  our  God.  Our  catechism  tells  us  we  were 
made  to  know,  to  love,  and  to  serve  God.  This  is  but  another  way 
of  saying  that  we  were  made  to  become  holy — holy  as  our  heavenly 
Father  is  holy.  To  this  end  Christ  was  born  in  a  stable  and  died 
upon  a  gibbet ;  to  this  end  the  apostles  suffered  and  toiled ;  to  this 
end  the  Church  has  been  established  to  wage  her  undying  warfare 
with  the  world  and  the  spirit  of  the  world;  to  this  end  you  and  I 
have  heard  again  and  again  that  still,  small  voice  upbraiding  us  for 
our  failures  and  for  our  transgressions.  We  are  the  crown  of  God's 
creation,  not  because  of  our  reason,  but  because  we  may  share  in 
the  holiness  of  our  God. 

Amid  the  cares  and  worries  of  our  daily  life  there  may  not  be 
much  time  for  oral  prayer,  or  for  visiting  God's  holy  temple,  but 
there  is  surely  time  for  a  thought  on  some  attribute  of  our  God,  His 
goodness,  His  mercy,  above  all  His  constant  presence  with  us  and 
in  us.  These  attributes  have  not  been  revealed  to  us  merely  for  our 
study,  for  the  purpose  of  filling  our  catechisms  or  our  spiritual  books, 
but  that  thoughts  of  them  may  become  an  integral  part  of  our  daily 
lives,  and  by  increasing  our  knowledge  and  consequently  our  love 
of  our  Creator,  make  us  sharers  in  His  holiness,  which  is  our  sole 
passport  to  eternal  life. 


THE    CREED. 


VI.  THE  PROVIDENCE  OF  GOD. 


BY  THE  REV.  THOMAS  J.  GERRARD. 

"For  thou  lovest  all  things  that  are,  and  hatest  none  of  the  things  which 
thou  hast  made." — Wisdom  xi.  25. 

SYNOPSIS. — Introduction.- — Love  a  very  real  experience  in  men.  This  im- 
plies a  First  Cause  which  is  perfect  love.  Perfect  love  implies  universal 
providence.  God  loves  and  therefore  cares  for  all  rejections  of  Him- 
self. 

Exposition,  i.  Providence  is  needed  in  all  human  systems:  the  family, 
the  community,  the  state,  the  Church.  Much  more  is  it  needed  in  the 
system  of  the  vast  and  complex  universe.  2.  God's  providence  extends  to 
particulars.  All  things  for  man,  but  man  for  God.  God  cares  for  the 
body,  but  as  instrumental  to  the  soul.  3.  God  is  unchangeable  in  His 
providence.  Moves  all  things  sweetly,  i.  e.,  according  to  their  natures. 
Miracles  are  not  an  interference  -with  but  a  fulfilment  of  divine  Provi- 
dence. No  such  thing  as  chance.  Providence  reaches  even  to  man's  free 
will.  4.  Providence  assigns  to  all  things  both  a  particular  and  a  uni- 
versal end.  The  particular  end  may  fail,  but  not  the  final  one. 

Difficulties  answered,  i.  There  are  seeming  failures  and  cruelties  in 
nature.  Our  view  of  nature  is  infinitesimally  small.  We  can  see  the 
reason  of  many  things.  But  eventually  we  have  to  make  a  meritorious 
act  of  faith  and  trust  to  the  loving  providence  of  God.  2.  Human  suffer- 
ing. The  result  of  sin-  somewhere.  Suffering  educative.  Eventually, 
however,  we  must  fall  back  on  God's  goodness.  3.  The  permission  of 
sin  the  most  staggering  of  all  difficulties.  The  difficulty  a  part  of  God's 
providence  designed  to  beget  and  foster  faith.  Manifests  the  grace  of 
forgiveness  and  the  attribute  of  justice.  But  again  the  ultimate  answer 
is  found  in  God's  love. 

Conclusion.— Trust  in  God  in  spite  of  all  difficulties.  Pray  in  spite 
of  all  dejections.  Providence  demands  and  does  not  dispense  with 
prayer.  Our  sentiments  of  kindness  realized  in  God  in  an  infinite  degree. 
Whatever  God  does  is  right. 

The  most  real  and  most  keen  of  all  human  experiences  is  that  of 
love.  It  is  the  double  thirst  which  every  one  has  felt,  but  which 
no  one  on  this  side  of  the  grave  has  fully  quenched.  Whence  comes 
this  insatiable  longing?  It  must  be  traced  to  its  source  in  everlasting 
uncreated  love.  We  are  accustomed  to  look  at  the  material  world 
and  argue  from  it  to  a  first  cause.  But  the  material  world  is  scarcely 
dream-stuff  compared  with  the  reality  of  will-power  and  love.  Much 
more  then  must  the  beginning  of  love  be  sought  in  the  ultimate  Being 
who  Himself  is  love.  And  having  arrived  at  absolute  love,  we  can 
easily  see  that  it  must  hold  all  things  within  its  spell.  Were  it  to 
miss  even  the  poorest  of  created  things  it  would  not  be  absolute  and 


THE  PROVIDENCE  OF  GOD.  51 

perfect.  It  must  from  its  very  nature  magnetize  everything.  Ex- 
perience and  reflection  both  go  to  assure  us  what  God  has  revealed 
through  His  spirit :  "Thou  lovest  all  things  that  are,  and  hatest  none 
of  the  things  which  Thou  hast  made." 

Knowledge  of  this  wide-reaching,  all-embracing  love  is  the  bed- 
rock of  our  trust  in  God's  providence.  We  may  wonder  at  first 
why  God  should  exercise  His  love  toward  all  things.  The  reason  is 
that  all  things  in  some  way  reflect  the  beauty  of  God.  God  looking 
upon  the  vast  treasures  of  His  own  mind  must  love  Himself.  So 
also  in  looking  upon  the  images  of  those  treasures  He  must  love 
them.  And  loving  them  He  must  use  His  vast  wisdom  and  power  to 
take  care  of  them  and  arrange  and  direct  them  to  His  own  great 
glory. 

When  we  look  at  our  own  little  systems  we  see  that  providence 
is  needed  in  order  that  they  may  be  carried  on.  In  the  family  the 
father  must  go  out  to  work  in  order  to  provide  food  and  clothing 
and  shelter  for  himself,  his  wife  and  children.  In  the  community 
there  must  be  a  mayor  and  council  to  take  care  of  the  affairs  of  the 
community:  to  provide  for  the  poor  and  to  attend  to  the  common 
needs.  In  the  nation,  there  must  be  a  government  to  rule  the  com- 
munities of  which  it  is  composed,  and  to  watch  and  protect  its  in- 
terests as  against  other  nations.  Likewise  in  the  Church  there  must 
be  the  priest  to  take  care  of  the  parish,  the  bishop  to  rule  the  diocese, 
and  the  supreme  Pastor  for  the  whole  Church.  "Feed  my  lambs,  feed 
my  sheep,"  said  Our  Lord  to  Peter.  If  therefore  in  these  organiza- 
tions a  certain  amount  of  providence  is  needful  for  their  well-being, 
what  shall  we  say  of  the  vast  mechanism  of  the  universe?  What 
keeps  the  planets  in  their  courses?  What  regulates  the 
seasons?  Whence  comes  about  that  unspeakable  arrangement  of 
law  and  order,  which,  with  each  and  every  new  discovery  of  science, 
is  known  to  be  more  vast  and  more  complex?  The  verdict 
of  science  has  been  voiced  by  the  prince  of  scientists.  Lord  Kelvin, 
speaking  as  president  of  the  British  Association  in  1882,  said: 
"Overpowering  proofs  of  intelligence  and  benevolent  design  lie 
around  us,  showing  to  us,  through  Nature,  the  influence  of  a  free 
will;  and  teaching  us  that  all  living  beings  depend  upon  one  ever- 
acting  Creator  and  Ruler."  Thus  again  do  reason  and  experience 
carry  us  back  to  what  we  knew  from  the  revelation  of  holy  wisdom : 
"But  thou,  O  Father,  dost  govern  all  things  by  thy  providence." 

There  have  been  many  speculations  as  to  how  God  exercises  His 


52  THE    CREED. 

providence;  whether,  for  instance,  it  is  by  His  direct  active  opera- 
tion or  by  reason  of  an  impulse  and  arrangement  given  to  the  uni- 
verse in  the  beginning ;  whether  He  acts  by  His  own  personal  power 
and  intelligence  or  by  the  aid  of  angelic  power  and  intelligence.  We 
need  not  stay  to  consider  these.  There  is,  however,  a  practical  ques- 
tion which  concerns  our  personal  attitude  towards  God.  Has  God 
a  particular  care  for  each  one  of  us  ?  God  is  personally  and  actively 
present  everywhere.  He  has  sent  His  Holy  Spirit  to  make  His 
abode  with  us.  He  must,  therefore,  regard  all  things  in  particular. 

First  we  see  how  He  arranges  all  things  around  us  for  our  service. 
In  the  beginning,  when  the  world  was  without  form  and  void,  the 
spirit  of  God  brooded  over  the  face  of  the  deep  and  prepared  a 
place  for  man  to  live  in.  He  separated  the  water  from  the  land 
and  the  darkness  from  the  light.  He  made  the  green  things  grow 
and  the  creeping  things  live.  He  planted  paradise  for  man  to  dwell 
in.  And  ever  since  then  He  has  gone  on  brooding  over  the  primary 
stuff  of  which  all  things  are  made.  The  providence  of  God  is  behind 
everything:  the  blades  of  grass,  the  leaves,  the  trees,  the  wind,  the 
rain,  the  sunshine :  everything  that  is  for  man's  service.  Two  spar- 
rows are  sold  for  a  farthing,  and  yet  not  one  of  them  falls  to  the 
ground  without  our  heavenly  Father's  care. 

We,  however,  are  better  than  the  sparrows.  It  is  by  God's  pro- 
vision of  food  that  we  are  able  to  sustain  our  bodies.  It  is  by  His 
law  that  the  blood  courses  through  our  veins.  It  is  by  the  breath  of 
His  life  that  we  are  able  to  breathe  and  replenish  our  heart's  blood. 
"He  covereth  the  heaven  with  clouds,  and  prepareth  rain  for  the 
earth.  He  maketh  grass  to  grow  upon  the  mountains,  and  herbs  for 
the  service  of  men."  "The  eyes  of  all  hope  in  thee,  O  Lord,  and 
thou  givest  them  meat  in  due  season." 

Yet  even  this  minute  care  of  our  bodies  is  directed  toward  another 
end.  Our  soul  is  our  real  self.  That  is  God's  special  treasure. 
There  His  providence  keeps  constant  watch  that  we  may  be  drawn 
ever  nearer  and  nearer  to  Him.  He  gives  light  to  the  will  to  enable 
it  to  act.  Hb  gives  fire  to  the  heart  to  inflame  the  whole  soul  and 
bring  it  entirely  into  His  service.  "It  is  God  who  worketh  in  you 
both  to  will  and  to  accomplish  according  to  His  good  will." 

In  all  this  wonderful  providence  God  preserves  His  unchangeable- 
ness.  He  does  not  have  to  keep  stepping  in  to  put  things  right.  If 
a  stone  rolls  down  the  mountain  side  it  fulfils  eternal  laws.  If  the 
lion  goes  abroad  to  seek  its  prey,  it  is  because  of  the  unchanging 


THE  PROVIDENCE   OF  GOD.  .    53 

law  of  brute  instinct.  If  man  is  allowed  freedom  in  his  actions,  it  is 
only  because  God  wills  those  actions  to  be  the  result  of  man's  free- 
dom. And  if  at  any  time  something  seems  to  happen  contrary  to  the 
laws  of  nature,  a  miracle,  it  is  not  that  the  laws  have  been  suspended, 
but  that  for  some  divine  purpose,  these  events  have  been  foreseen 
and  arranged,  and  so  are  the  fulfilment  rather  than  the  alteration 
of  the  divine  will.  God  reaches  "from  end  to  end  mightily  and  or- 
dereth  all  things  sweetly."  Thus  all  things  that  happen,  if  they  be 
not  influenced  by  the  free  will  of  man,  happen  of  necessity.  Many 
things  seem  to  happen  by  chance.  The  lightning  strikes  an  oak-tree 
and  misses  the  man  standing  by.  He  thinks  he  is  very  lucky.  But 
in  reality  there  is  no  chance  whatever  in  the  incident.  It  is  all  due 
to  the  working  out  of  fixed  laws.  Things  seem  to  happen  by  chance 
simply  because  we  can  not  see  all  the  circumstances.  Huxley  spoke 
a  great  truth  when  he  said  that  chance  was  but  an  alias  for  ignor- 
ance. Whatever  happens  therefore  uncaused  by  the  free-will  of 
man,  is  the  direct  result  of  God's  providence.  Nor  does  the  free-will 
of  man  escape  God's  providence.  Indeed,  this  is  the  favorite  object 
of  divine  care  and  attention.  Of  man  it  is  said:  "Thou  hast  sub- 
jected all  things  under  his  feet,  sheep  and  all  oxen  and  the  beasts 
of  the  field."  All  the  rest  of  creation  is  for  man,  to  be  directed  by 
man's  spiritualized  free-will  to  the  service  of  God.  Whether,  there- 
fore, man  is  influenced  by  the  world  around  him  or  by  grace  within 
him,  it  is  all  the  result  of  God's  providence  taking  care  of  him. 
"There  is  no  power  but  from  God :  and  those  that  are,  are  ordained 
of  God." 

This  arrangement  of  God,  however,  must  always  be  considered  in 
the  light  of  God's  final  aim.  He  gives  to  each  of  His  creatures  a 
certain  value  for  their  own  sakes ;  but  a  much  greater  value  for  the 
sake  of  all  creation.  An  artist  will  value  the  chemist's  discovery  of 
a  new  color,  first  for  the  sake  of  the  hue  itself,  but  more  especially 
for  the  place  it  will  occupy  in  the  composition  of  some  beautiful 
picture.  Thus  in  God's  creation  all  things  have  both  a  particular  and 
a  universal  end.  It  is  the  particular  end  of  trees  to  bear  fruit.  It 
is  the  particular  end  of  bees  to  make  honey.  It  is  the  universal  end 
of  all  things  to  glorify  God.  Thus  it  may  happen  that  many  things 
fail  in  their  particular  aim ;  but  never  in  their  final  aim.  A  gardener 
cuts  off  vine-bearing  branches  in  order  that  those  that  remain  may 
produce  better  grapes.  Whenever  then  there  seems  to  be  failure  in 


54  THE    CREED. 

nature,  we  must  conclude  that  it  is  only  a  failure  of  the  particular 
end  and  not  of  the  final  one. 

This  distinction  between  the  particular  and  final  end  of  things  is 
a  very  important  one.  Its  neglect  is  the  cause  of  nearly  all  the  con* 
fusion  which  exists  in  people's  minds  concerning  Divine  Providence. 
God's  creation  scheme  is  so  vast  and  so  complex.  It  reaches  right 
back  through  all  the  ages  of  history,  through  the  life  of  pre-historic 
man,  through  the  long  centuries  and  aeons  of  geological  time.  It 
stretches  forward  through  all  future  ages  and  on  past  the  end  of 
time  into  eternity.  It  comprises  all  our  earth,  all  our  solar  system,  all 
other  stellar  systems  of  which  ours  is  but  a  unit.  And  if  the  tele- 
scope shows  us  length  and  breadth  in  indefinite  dimensions,  the 
microscope  and  chemical  experiment  show  us  infinitesimal  worlds  in 
smallness.  It  has  been  computed  that  in  a  thimbleful  of  hydrogen 
there  are  1,200  millions  of  millions  of  millions  of  atoms,  while  each 
atom  is  made  up  of  electrons,  each  one  of  which  when  compared  with 
its  atom  is  as  a  crumb  to  a  cathedral.  How  very  small  then  must 
be  our  partial  insight  into  God's  plans!  A  fly  lights  upon  a  great 
picture,  say  the  Sistine  Madonna  of  Raphael.  It  sees  only  a  little 
black  patch  on  the  hem  of  Our  Lady's  robe.  It  recognizes  nothing  of 
the  superb  composition  of  form  and  color  of  which  the  black  patch  is 
a  portion.  Yet  the  fly's  apprehension  of  the  picture  is  far  more  ex- 
tensive than  our  apprehensions  of  God's  picture.  So  it  comes  about 
that  if  we  look  only  to  the  particular  end  of  things  and  neglect  their 
final  end,  we  get  a  distorted  view  of  God's  providence.  Relying 
merely  on  our  own  infinitesimal  outlook  we  are  bound  to  experience 
the  difficulty  of  God's  seeming  improvidence,  seeming  forgetfulness, 
seeming  weakness,  seeming  unkindness. 

The  failures  in  nature  are  a  constant  source  of  trouble.  Take, 
for  instance,  the  mayflies.  Their  larvae  form  most  elaborate  little 
houses  for  themselves  in  the  beds  of  streams.  They  live  under 
water  until  ready  to  emerge  from  the  chrysalis  state.  Then  after  all 
this  preparation  they  rise  to  live  their  little  sunshine  life.  Yet  out 
of  a  thousand  probably  only  a  dozen  escape  the  trout  and  the  swal- 
lows. Wherefore  all  this  waste? 

The  other  day  the  children  of  one  of  our  convent  schools  were 
playing  in  the  garden,  when  some  of  them  came  running  in  great 
distress  to  the  nun  in  charge.  Little  Agnes  had  caught  a  bird  and 
had  it  shut  up  in  a  tiny  box.  "Let  it  go  at  once,"  said  the  sister, 
"it  will  die."  "Poor  little  birdie,"  said  the  child,  "but  it  would  go 


THE  PROVIDENCE  OF  GOD,  55 

straight  to  heaven  then."  So  the  sister  had  to  explain  that  the  bird 
could  not  go  to  heaven  as  it  had  no  soul  baptized  in  the  Blood  of 
Jesus ;  that  animals  could  not  sin  because  they  had  no  will ;  that  the 
cat  could  not  help  being  cruel  to  the  birds,  nor  yet  the  birds  to  the 
flies,  for  God  made  them  so.  And  just  then  they  were  able  to  see  a 
fly-catcher  darting  from  its  place  on  a  tree  catching  flies  every 
moment.  "But  why  did  God  make  them  so  cruel  ?"  asked  the  child. 
"It  is  nearly  time  to  go  in.  Run  and  fetch  me  the  bell."  This  was 
the  answer  she  got  from  the  provident  sister.  We  are  all  children 
in  the  presence  of  God's  creation.  We  can  see  the  reasons  of  many 
things.  But  we  need  not  carry  our  reasoning  very  far  before  we 
come  to  the  end  of  it.  Our  only  answer  is  that  God  is  good.  The 
particular  end  may  fail  hundreds  of  times,  but  the  final  one  never. 
Be  loves  all  things  that  are  and  hates  none  of  the  things  which  He 
has  made. 

The  difficulty  is  felt  more  keenly  when  we  come  to  human  suffer- 
ing. The  reason  is  because  then  it  touches  the  whole  man;  not 
merely  his  intelligence,  but,  as  in  the  case  of  holy  Job,  his  flesh  and 
his  bone.  "Though  He  should  kill  me,  yet  will  I  hope  in  him." 
That  was  Job's  attitude  of  mind.  We  can  look  on  the  history  of  the 
man  of  patience  and  see  how  all  turned  out  well  in  the  end.  We  can 
see  that  much  of  the  suffering  which  exists  is  the  direct  result  of  sin. 
We  can  believe  that  all  suffering  is  the  result  of  sin  somewhere,  if 
not  of  the  sufferer,  at  least  of  some  one  else.  We  can  know  the  one- 
ness of  our  race  and  the  need  of  bearing  each  other's  burdens.  But 
when  we  are  face  to  face  with  suffering  in  reality,  then  it  is  that  we 
need  our  faith  in  God's  providence.  Aware  of  our  own  sinfulness  we 
might  bravely  bear  our  own  sufferings.  But  the  difficulty  presses 
heavily  upon  us  when  we  see  those  suffer  whom  we  love  and  know  to 
be  innocent. 

The  newspapers  told  us  of  a  sad  case  recently.  A  young  couple, 
father  and  mother,  were  putting  their  children  to  bed,  their  only  two. 
The  mother  was  bathing  the  baby  while  the  father  played  with  the 
elder  boy.  The  boy,  in  his  delight,  jumped  from  his  father's  arms,  fell 
downstairs  and  was  killed.  The  mother  rushed  downstairs  to  her 
son,  and,  in  her  distress,  forgot  the  child  upstairs.  Then  when  she 
did  return  it  was  only  to  find  her  baby  drowned.  What  shall  we 
say  in  the  presence  of  such  a  calamity  ?  What  could  the  mother  say  ? 
What  could  the  father  say  ?  We  can  not  see  the  good  of  such  effects 
of  God's  providence.  But  by  a  strong  act  of  faith  we  can  believe 


56  THE   CREED. 

that  God  is  good,  that  He  loves  all  things  that  are,  and  hates  none  of 
the  things  that  He  has  made.  We  may  try  to  fathom  the  mystery, 
but  our  safer  plan  will  be  to  bow  down  and  adore. 

In  seeking  the  source  of  suffering  in  sin  the  difficulty  is  lessened 
for  many  people.  But  for  many  others  it  is  only  postponed.  Can 
the  providence  of  God  be  justified  in  the  presence  of  so  much  sin? 
Especially  in  the  presence  of  everlasting  sin  ?  We  may  get  glimpses 
here  and  there  of  God's  providence  in  the  permission  of  sin.  We 
may  look  at  the  lives  of  St.  Paul  and  St.  Augustine  and  St.  Mary 
Magdalen  and  St.  Mary  of  Egypt  and  see  in  their  sins  the  occasions 
of  the  wonderful  grace  of  sorrow  and  repentance.  Or  we  may  see 
in  the  punishment  of  sin  the  manifestation  of  God's  justice.  "What 
is  there  that  I  ought  to  do  more  to  my  vineyard,  that  I  have  not 
done  to  it?  Was  it  that  I  looked  that  it  should  bring  forth  grapes, 
and  it  brought  forth  wild  grapes  ?  And  now  I  will  show  you  what  I 
will  do  to  my  vineyard.  I  will  take  away  the  hedge  thereof,  and  it 
shall  be  wasted :  and  I  will  break  down  the  wall  thereof  and  it  shall 
be  trodden  down.  And  I  will  make  it  desolate."  Finally,  however, 
we  must  have  recourse  to  the  one  great  truth  of  God's  love  and  the 
deduction  from  that  truth,  that  God's  love  is  at  the  root  of  His 
providence.  We  can  not  see  but  we  can  believe  that  God's  love  is 
eternal. 

Here  then  is  the  practical  lesson  to  be  learnt  from  the  truth  of 
God's  providence.  God  must  be  trusted  under  all  circumstances. 
No  matter  how  contrary  to  our  ideas  of  justice  and  right  and  mercy 
He  seems  to  act,  we  must  believe  that  He  has  done  right  after  all. 
Those  very  sentiments  which  cause  us  distress  come  from  Him  and 
must  be  found  in  Him  in  an  eminent  way  and  infinite  degree.  He 
who  made  the  eye,  shall  He  not  see  ?  He  who  made  the  ear,  shall  He 
not  hear?  And  He  who  gave  us  our  pity,  shall  He  not  prove  merciful 
and  gentle  past  all  imagining  ?  His  care  for  us  is  so  minute  that  the 
very  hairs  of  our  head  are  all  numbered.  He  knows  all  that  is  need- 
ful for  us  before  we  ask  Him.  Yet  we  must  pray:  "Our  Father 

.  .  .  give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread."  Our  prayer  is  not  a 
petition  to  God  to  change  His  mind,  but  it  is  a  condition  which  God 
has  attached  to  His  gifts.  When  then  we  pray  for  one  thing  and 
get  something  else  which  we  do  not  want,  we  must  believe  and  trust 
that  it  is  the  result  of  God's  loving  providence.  We  must  see  God 
in  the  ordinary  ways  of  nature  just  as  well  as  in  the  miraculous.  And 
if  at  times  those  ways  jar  on  our  sense  of  what  is  kind  and  good  we 


THE  PROVIDENCE  OF  GOD.  57 

must  remember  that  God's  ways  are  not  our  ways,  and  that  all  things, 
even  the  most  appalling  events  in  life",  work  together  for  the  good 
of  those  who  love  God.  The  dark  night  comes  to  every  soul  sooner 
or  later  and  causes  it  to  lament  as  Sion  lamented  of  old :  "The  Lord 
hath  forsaken  me,  the  Lord  hath  forgotten  me."  But  God  replies  as 
He  did  to  Sion :  "Can  a  woman  forget  her  infant,  so  as  not  to  have 
pity  on  the  son  of  her  womb?  And  if  she  should  forget,  yet  will  I 
not  forget  thee." 


S8  THE    CREED. 

VII.  THE  HOLY  TRINITY. 

BY  RIGHT  REV.  MGR.  CANON  JOHN  S.  VAUGHAN. 


"In  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."— 
Matt,  xxviii.  19. 

SYNOPSIS. — Reason,  Scripture,  Church  proclaim  the  existence  of  God. 
Christ  lifted  the  -veil  and  showed  us  something  of  the  inner  nature  of 
God,  viz.,  the  Trinity.  Trinity  necessary  for  the  infinite  happiness  and 
infinite  love  of  God.  Meaning  and  explanation  of  this  mystery.  Rela- 
tion of  the  Three  Persons  to  each  other;  to  the  Incarnate  Word;  to 
Christ  in  the  Eucharist.  Vestiges  of  the  Trinity  in  creation,  i.  Beings. 
— Material,  spiritual,  partly  material  and  partly  spiritual.  2.  Matter. — 
Solid,  liquid,  gas.  3.  Dimensions  in  nature. — Length,  breadth,  thickness. 
4.  Form. — Lines,  surfaces,  solids.  5.  Life. — Vegetative,  sensitive,  ra-, 
tional.  6.  Souls. — Natural  life,  supernatural  life,  glorious  life. 
Conclusion. — Adoration  and  thanksgiving  to  the  Trinity. 


There  is  no  truth  so  clearly  written  upon  the  face  of  nature,  as  the" 
existence  of  God.  No  one  whose  mind  is  not  hopelessly  blinded 
by  pride  or  prejudice,  can  fail  to  detect  the  most  startling  indications 
of  His  goodness,  His  power,  and  His  wisdom  in  the  immense  uni- 
verse, that  upon  every  side  stretches  around  him  to  untold  distances. 
Hence  the  Seraphim,  in  the  vision  accorded  to  Isaias,  cried  out,  one 
to  another,  "Holy !  Holy !  Holy !  Lord  God  of  Hosts,  all  the  earth  is 
full  of  thy  glory"  (Is.  vi,  3),  while  the  Psalmist,  in  similar  words, 
reminds  us  that  "the  heavens  show  forth  the  glory  of  God,  and  the 
firmament  declareth  the  work  of  his  hands"  (Ps.  xviii).  Well  then 
may  St.  Paul  assure  the  Romans  that  they  who  refuse  to  acknowledge 
this  fundamental  truth,  are  without  excuse.  "The  visible  things 
of  God,  from  the  creation  of  the  world  are  clearly  seen,  being  under- 
stood by  the  things  that  are  made,  His  eternal  power  and  divinity, 
so  that  they  (who  believe  not)  are  inexcusable"  (Rom.  i.  19). 
In  a  similar  manner  the  wise  man,  under  inspiration  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  writes : — "By  the  greatness  of  the  beauty  and  of  the  creature, 
the  Creator  of  them  may  be  seen,  so  as  to  be  known  thereby"  (Wis- 
dom xiii).  Indeed  any  doubt  upon  this  point  that  might  otherwise 
have  lingered  in  our  minds,  has  been  swept  away  by  a  solemn  decree 
of  the  General  Council  of  the  Vatican,  which  declares  that  even  apart 


THE  HOLY   TRINITY.  59 

from  any  supernatural  revelation,  man  may  arrive  at  the  knowledge 
of  the  existence  of  a  Supreme  Being,  by  a  proper  exercise  of  his 
reason,  and  may  even  obtain  some  knowledge  of  many  of  His  at- 
tributes, more  especially  of  His  goodness,  wisdom  and  power,  which 
are  everywhere  apparent. 

There  are,  however,  in  God  depths  that  no  human  plummet  can 
ever  sound,  and  riches  that  no  human  intelligence  can  ever  measure. 
Of  these  one  of  the  greatest  and  most  incomprehensible  is  the 
adorable  mystery  of  the  ever  Blessed  Trinity. 

This  is  a  mystery  that  we  could  never  have  discovered  for  our- 
selves. It  is  no  doubt  true,  that  certain  faint  traces  of  it  exist  in  the 
visible  creation,  but  these  traces  do  not  stand  out  boldly  and  con- 
spicuously so  as  to  be  readily  seized.  Hence,  it  became  necessary 
that  this  sublime  doctrine  should  be  more  explicitly  revealed  to 
us  by  Jesus  Christ,  under  the  new  dispensation. 

In  His  infinite  goodness  He  deigned  to  lift  up  a  corner  of  the  veil 
that  hides  the  mysteries  of  His  eternal  essence  for  us,  and  com- 
municate to  us  one  of  the  profoundest  secrets  of  His  divine  nature; 
a  secret  by  which  we  are  enabled  to  realize  more  perfectly  the  infinite 
richness  and  felicity  of  His  life. 

The  utter  solitude  and  isolation  that  seemed  to  characterize  the 
eternal  existence  of  God,  and  which  was  so  difficult  for  man  to 
reconcile  with  his  ideal  of  perfect  happiness,  at  once  disappears 
before  the  appearance  of  this  newly  revealed  doctrine.  We  now 
learn  that  God  is  not,  and  never  really  was,  alone.  During  the  un- 
told and  unthinkable  duration  before  angels  or  men  were  made, 
God  was  not  without  society,  He  was  not  without  companionship. 
On  the  contrary,  He  enjoyed  the  most  perfect  intercourse,  wholly 
independently  of  all  creatures;  an  intercourse,  in  fact,  so  supreme 
and  adequate,  that  the  creation  of  angels  and  men  could  add  little 
or  nothing  to  it.  Indeed,  the  intercourse  between  God  and  creatures 
could  never  have  satisfied  the  infinite  capacity  of  the  Supreme  Being. 
Between  Him  and  the  very  highest  of  His  creatures,  there  stretches 
out  an  infinite  distance.  It  is  impossible  that  God  should  ever  be 
able  to  make  Himself  adequately  known  to  the  finite  being ;  or  that 
any  finite  being  should  be  able  to  communicate  with  God,  as  with 
an  equal;  as  well  hope  to  pour  the  entire  ocean  into  the  hollow  of 
one's  hand.  Only  an  infinite  Person  can  really  stand  on  a  level 
with  the  infinite.  Only  an  infinite  Person  can  be  the  recipient  of 
an  infinite  thought,  or  of  any  infinite  communication.  Only  an 


60  THE    CREED. 

infinite  Person  can  know  and  be  known,  can  love  and  be  loved, 
in  an  infinite  measure. 

God  may  be  loved  by  creatures,  but  not  adequately;  not  as  He 
deserves;  not  as  His  nature  demands.  A  love,  full  enough,  broad 
enough,  and  deep  enough,  to  fill  and  flood  His  own  Being,  must 
come  from  an  infinite  Person :  from  one  just  as  truly  God  as  Himself. 

Something  distantly  analogous  to  this  may  be  learned  from  our 
own  experience.  A  bride  may  be,  in  a  certain  sense,  loved  by  her 
pet  dogs  and  birds.  She  may  pass  happy  moments  in  their  company. 
But  will  such  mean  things  satisfy  her  ?  No !  Her  heart  needs  some- 
thing more  than  the  affection  of  an  irrational  animal,  a  creature  so 
far  below  her.  She  craves  for  the  love  of  a  man;  i.  e.,  for  one  of 
a  like  nature  with  herself.  She  hungers  for  the  love  of  a  human 
being;  of  one  who  can  understand  her,  and  sympathize  with  her, 
and  share  her  feelings,  and  who,  like  herself,  possesses  intelligence 
and  reason  and  free  will,  and  who  in  every  sense  is  her  equal. 

So  in  like  manner,  God  could  never  possess  complete  and  infinite 
happiness,  if  loved  only  by  mere  creatures,  by  beings,  that  is  to  say, 
infinitely  below  Him.  Being  Himself  infinite  He  required  the  so- 
ciety, the  companionship  and  the  love  of  an  infinite  person ;  without 
which  infinite  happiness  would  be  but  a  word,  and  not  a  divine  at- 
tribute at  all.  How  is  such  companionship  possible  ?  No  one  could 
have  guessed  or  imagined  were  the  solution  not  borne  in  upon 
us  by  the  revelation  of  the  mystery  of  the  adorable  Trinity.  It  an- 
nounces and  asserts  the  plurality,  while,  at  the  same  time,  it  de- 
clares an  absolute  and  essential  unity.  This  at  once  shows  the 
difficulty.  Although  the  doctrine  is  above  reason,  it  is  not  opposed 
to  reason.  It  involves  no  contradiction.  For  observe :  The  Church 
does  not  declare  that  which  is  one  to  be  at  the  same  time  three: 
nor  does  she  teach  that  which  is  three  to  be  also  only  one.  No. 
She  proclaims  and  enforces  the  doctrine  of  strict  unity  in  the  Su- 
preme Being,  only  she  goes  on  to  explain  that  this  unity,  which  is 
ever  absolute  and  unbroken,  attaches  to  the  nature  of  God  and  to  the 
nature  only,  At  the  same  time  she  proclaims  a  plurality,  but  the 
plurality  attaches  to  the  Persons  and  to  the  Persons  only.  Hence 
no  violence  is  done  to  reason. 

To  say  that  three  Persons  are  but  one  Person,  or  to  say  that  one 
God  is  in  reality  three  Gods,  would  be  a  contradiction  and  an  impos- 
sibility. But  then  the  Church  does  not  say  anything  of  the  kind.  All 
she  does  declare  is  that  one  God  is  three  Persons;  and  that  three  Per- 


THE  HOLY   TRINITY.  61 

sons  are  but  one  God;  which  may  indeed  be  incomprehensible,  but 
which  in  no  way  involves  a  contradiction.  From  the  foregoing  con- 
siderations it  is  clear  that  the  divine  and  infinite  Persons  constitute 
a  true  society,  unique  in  its  kind;  a  society  whose  members  are  in 
the  most  perfect  manner,  equal,  related,  and  worthy  of  each  other, 
and  which  therefore  is  the  infinite,  unattainable,  eternal  and  essential 
ideal  of  all  other  societies. 

Let  us  now  express  the  doctrine  a  little  more  explicitly.  The 
Church  teaches  that  there  exists  only  one  God ;  infinite  in  all  perfec- 
tions; and  that4n  this  one  God  there  are  three  perfect  and  distinct 
Persons.  They  are  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.  The 
Father  is  not  the  Son ;  the  Son  is  not  the  Holy  Ghost ;  and  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  neither  the  Father  nor  the  Son.  The  Father  is  truly  God ; 
the  Son  is  truly  God ;  the  Holy  Ghost  is  truly  God.  Yet  there  are 
not  three  Gods.  There  is  but  one  only  God.  How  can  that  be? 
We  know  not.  How  can  we  explain  it?  We  are  unable  to  explain 
it.  This  is  where  the  mystery  comes  in. 

There  is  further  a  certain  relationship  between  the  Persons. 
Thus  the  Son  is  begotten  of  the  Father :  He  is  related  to  Him  by  a 
process  of  divine  generation.  Does  this  make  the  Father  more 
ancient  than  the  Son?  No.  Does  it  imply  that  the  Father  must 
have  existed  before  He  begot  the  Son  ?  No.  For  neither  the  Father 
nor  the  Son  had  any  beginning  whatsoever.  They  together  with  the 
Holy  Ghost,  always  were,  are,  and  ever  will  be;  all  equal;  none 
superior,  none  inferior,  and  without  any  "before"  or  "after."  The 
Father  is  eternal;  the  Son  is  eternal;  the  Holy  Ghost  is  eternal. 
Yet,  there  are  not  three  eternals,  but  only  one  eternal. 

Similarly,  the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  both  Father  and  Son, 
yet  He  is  the  same  Lord  and  God  as  they  are.  Though  He  proceeds 
from  them,  He  is  in  no  sense  inferior ;  they  are  in  no  way  anterior  or 
superior.  The  Father  is  omnipotent,  and  omniscient,  and  eternal  and 
infinite.  The  Son  is  omnipotent,  and  omniscient,  and  eternal  and 
infinite.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  omnipotent,  omniscient,  eternal  and 
infinite.  Yet  there  are  not  three  omnipotents,  nor  three  omniscients, 
nor  three  eternals,  nor  three  infinites;  but  one  only  Cod,  who  is  at 
once  omnipotent,  omniscient,  eternal  and  infinite* 

The  divine  Persons  are  indivisible,  inseparable,  and  so  united  in 
one  nature,  that  where  one  is  the  rest  must  be.  Though  indivisible, 
they  are  distinct,  because  the  Persons  are  different,  though  the 
nature  is  the  same.  That  is  to  say :  No  divine  Person  can  separate 


62  THE    CREED. 

His  personality  from  His  nature.  Hence,  where  one  Person  is, 
there  also  must  be  the  divine  nature.  But  the  one  nature  is,  and  must 
ever  be,  common  to  the  three  Persons ;  consequently  the  other  two 
Persons  must  be  equi-present  there  likewise. 

The  whole  question  hinges  upon  the  unity  of  essence  and  the 
plurality  of  Persons  as  may  best  be  realized  by  a  concrete  example. 

Carefully  consider  then  the  following  doctrine:  Jesus  Christ 
is  truly  man ;  but  He  is  also  truly  God.  Then,  are  God  the  Father 
and  God  the  Holy  Ghost  also  man?  No.  By  no  means.  But  why 
not?  For  the  simple  reason  that  it  was  not  the  nature  of  God  that 
became  man,  that  nature  which  is  common  to  all  three;  but  it  was 
the  Person  of  God  the  Son,  that  Person  who  is  not  common  to  the 
three,  but  is  distinct  and  undivided. 

Now  let  us  turn  to  our  second  illustration ;  viz.,  the  Holy  Euchar- 
ist. As  every  well  instructed  Catholic  knows  by  virtue  of  the  words 
of  the  consecration,  the  bread  and  wine  are  changed  into  the  sacred 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ.  Now  comes  the  question :  Is  the  human 
soul  of  Jesus  Christ  also  present?  Certainly  it  is,  but  not  in  virtue 
of  the  consecrating  words,  which  do  not  even  refer  to  it ;  but  because 
since  the  resurrection,  body  and  soul  are  inseparable.  In  short, 
where  the  Sacred  Body  is,  the  Soul  of  Jesus  Christ  must  also  be. 
This  is  what  theologians  express  by  the  word  "concomitance." 
And  what  shall  we  say  about  the  divinity  of  Christ?  That  is  also 
present,  and  for  the  same  reason ;  viz.,  because  where  the  Body,  and, 
in  fact,  the  entire  humanity  of  Jesus  Christ  is  present  there  also  must 
be  present  the  divinity.  No  power  can  separate  them.  Then  are  the 
Eternal  Father,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  also  truly  present  in  the  Blessed 
Sacrament?  Dear  brethren,  consider  for  a  moment  for  yourselves, 
in  the  light  of  the  principles  already  laid  down,  and  you  will  at  once 
see  that  the  answer  must  be  in  the  affirmative. 

Observe :  There  are  not  three  Divine  Essences,  but  only  one. 
Hence  it  must  follow,  that  wherever  that  one  divine  essence  is, 
there  must  be  all  three  Persons.  The  nature  of  God  can  not  be  par- 
celled out  among  three.  No  such  division  is  so  much  as  possible. 
But  since  there  is  only  one  nature  or  essence,  wherever  that  nature 
is,  there  also  must  be  equally  present  each  of  the  Divine  Persons. 
But,  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament  there  is  most  certainly  the  divine 
substance  of  nature,  then  there  must  also  be,  not  in  virtue  of  the 
words  of  consecration,  but  by  concomitance,  not  only  God  the  Son, 
but  also  God  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost 


THE  HOLY   TRINITY.  63 

If  we  speak  always  of  the  presence  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  of  the 
Second  Person  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  and  but  seldom  mention,  in 
this  connection,  the  other  members  of  the  Trinity,  it  is  only  because 
the  Sacred  Body  and  Blood  of  Jesus  Christ  alone  are  present  by 
virtue  of  the  words  of  institution,  and  the  sacred  Body  and  the 
sacred  Blood  were  assumed  by  the  Sacred  Person  alone,  and  not 
by  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Theologians  teach  that  all  acts  of  God  upon  the  creation,  i.  e.  all 
acts  ad  extra,  must  be  attributed  equally  to  the  three  divine  Persons. 
Hence  the  visible  and  the  invisible  universes  are  the  work  of  the 
triune  God.  As  a  consequence,  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  every- 
thing, from  the  highest  to  the  lowest,  both  in  the  spiritual  and 
the  natural  orders,  should  bear  some  faint  reflection  at  least  of  Him 
who  fashioned  them.  Spiritual  creatures,  such  as  the  angels  and 
such  as  the  souls  of  men,  will  naturally  bear  a  more  perfect  image 
of  the  Trinity  than  material  objects,  since  a  spiritual  and  immaterial 
substance  is  better  adapted  to  reflect  it  than  any  other.  This  is 
undeniable.  Yet  there  are  some  traces  of  the  mystery  of  the 
Adorable  Trinity  to  be  detected  even  in  the  visible  creation  around 
us,  as  may  easily  be  demonstrated. 

That  the  image  and  likeness  of  God  is  to  be  found  in  our  im- 
mortal soul,  is  a  fact  too  well  known  to  you  all,  to  need  any  develop- 
ment here.  So,  passing  that  by,  let  us  approach  a  truth  not  so  gen- 
erally recognized  by  the  majority  of  Christians.  I  mean  the  re- 
markable fact  that  even  inanimate  nature  and  material  things  like- 
wise, disclose  some  traces  of  the  infinite  Creator  who  called  them 
into  being. 

Whether  we  look  out  over  the  vast  universe,  in  the  midst  of  which 
we  live ;  or  whether  we  confine  our  study  to  the  little  orb  in  which 
the  force  of  gravity  holds  us  prisoners  all  our  lives,  we  shall  be 
obliged  to  conclude  that  all  is  ruled  by  a  certain  trinity  in  unity. 
That  is  to  say,  all  nature,  and  every  object  in  nature  breaks  up  into 
a  threefold  division,  while  at  the  same  time  these  three  divisions 
are  bound  together  in  a  true  unity.  But  before  descending  to  de- 
tails, let  us  throw  a  glance  at  Creation,  as  a  whole.  By  "creation" 
we,  of  course,  understand  all  that  God's  hands  have  made ;  in  short, 
all  that  exists  outside  God  Himself ;  all  that  is  not  God.  All  these 
objects  fall  under  one  common  denominator.  They  form  one  single 
thing,  i.  e.,  the  creation.  Nevertheless,  from  this  one  designation, 
common  to  all,  as  from  a  single  stem,  they  branch  farther  into  three, 


64  THE    CREED. 

and  only  three  necessary  divisions.  For,  however  numerous  and 
varied  and  unlike  creatures  may  be,  every  single  creature  necessarily 
ranges  itself  under  one  of  three  heads.  Every  creature  is  either 
(i)  wholly  spiritual,  as  are  the  angels  and  archangels;  or  else  (2) 
wholly  material,  as  the  metals,  the  rocks,  the  seas  and  the  mountains, 
or  else  (3)  partly  spiritual  and  partly  material,  as  man,  who  unites 
the  two  in  a  single  personality,  his  soul  being  spiritual,  and  his 
body  material. 

Selecting  the  lowest  of  these  divisions,  we  will  now  briefly  con- 
sider how  the  Trinity  is  reflected  in  simple  matter.  I  soon  discover 
that  matter  exists  in  three,  but  only  in  three  different  states.  Though 
always  matter,  yet  it  assumes  three,  and  only  three,  possible  forms. 
Here  is  a  rock.  It  is  hard,  tough  and  stubborn.  That  is  matter 
under  one  of  its  forms.  Beyond  the  rocks  lie  the  waters  of  the 
great  ocean.  These  waters  are  soft,  yielding,  and  of  a  totally 
different  character.  Water  is  as  truly  matter  as  is  the  rock ;  but  it  is 
matter  in  another  of  its  forms.  Then  above  the  water  and  the 
rocks  is  the  air.  Here  we  have  matter,  as  truly  as  before,  but  it  is 
in  another,  a  third  condition.  It  is  more  rarefied  and  subtle  and 
lighter,  and  more  obedient  to  every  external  impulse  than  even  the 
water.  From  this  it  is  clear  that  matter  exists,  but  not  always  in 
the  same  state.  It  may  exist  in  the  solid  state,  or  in  the  liquid 
state,  or  in  the  state  of  gas  or  vapor.  How  many  states  are  there? 
Three.  Yet  these  three  include  all.  A  fourth  state  can  not  be  so 
much  as  imagined. 

Here  is  a  piece  of  ice.  It  is  solid.  Expose  it  to  the  influence  of 
the  sun ;  it  passes  into  the  liquid  state ;  apply  a  still  fiercer  heat  and 
it  disappears  in  the  form  of  vapor.  Instead  of  a  piece  of  ice,  drop 
a  lump  of  gold  or  silver  or  lead  or  of  any  other  metal  whatsoever 
into  the  melting  pot ;  and  it  may  be  made  to  pass  through  the  same 
three  stages  as  the  ice.  The  only  difference  is  that  a  considerably 
intenser  heat  is  required,  first  to  melt,  and  then  to  vaporize  metals. 
There  is  no  doubt  but  that,  given  heat  sufficient,  the  entire  earth 
and  all  it  contains,  and  every  material  substance,  may  be  resolved 
not  only  into  liquid,  but  also  into  vapor.  Indeed  scientists  assure  us 
that  it  was  as  vapor,  or,  as  some  express  it,  "as  a  gas  cloud"  that 
the  earth  first  began  its  independent  existence;  yet,  in  all  these 
different  states  it  ever  remains  the  same  substance.  There  is  con- 
sequently a  unity  of  substance  and  a  trinity  of  condition — one 
in  essence;  three  in  state.  Thus  a  trinity  and  unity  embraces  all 
material  things. 


THE  HOLY  TRINITY.  65 

Now  take  any  substance  you  please,  say  a  rock  or  a  mountain,  and 
you  will  observe  how  this  triune  law  is  manifested  in  yet  another 
way.  Every  material  substance  possesses  three  and  only  three 
dimensions.  In  the  pebble  I  pick  up  off  the  road,  as  well  as  in  the 
colossal  sun  shining  in  the  heavens,  there  is,  and  must  be,  length, 
breadth  and  thickness.  In  fact  all  visible  things,  of  whatever 
character  and  variety,  are  contained  by  these  dimensions;  and  it 
is  just  as  impossible  to  increase  as  to  reduce  the  number.  Except 
as  contained  by  these  three,  no  material  substance  can  exist.  One 
can  not  even  imagine  such  substances  with  four  or  with  two,  or 
with  any  number  but  just  three.  A  piece  of  gold  may  be  beaten 
extremely  thin;  but,  in  addition  to  its  length  and  its  superficial 
breadth,  it  must  possess  some  thickness;  since  length  and  breadth 
without  thickness,  is  nothing  but  a  figment  of  the  mind. 

Let  us  pass  to  consider  how  material  substances  are  composed, 
so  far  as  their  external  form  and  shape  are  concerned.  The  answer 
is,  of  (i)  lines,  of  (2)  surfaces  and  of  (3)  solids.  These  are  the 
three  ideas  that  we  derive  from  the  most  cursory  glance  at  the 
visible  universe  around  us.  If,  further,  we  examine  these  three  in 
detail  we  shall  find  that  each  in  its  turn  discloses  in  itself  a  unity 
and  trinity.  A  single  straight  line,  for  instance,  is  a  single  whole, 
but  it  contains  three  and  only  three  essential  parts.  For  what  is  a 
straight  line  but  two  distinct  points,  and  the  space  between  them? 
Every  conceivable  line  must  have  (i)  a  beginning,  or  a  point  at 
which  it  starts ;  (2)  an  end,  or  the  point  at  which  it  terminates,  and 
(3)  the  distance  between.  Try  and  imagine  any  single  straight  line 
that  is  not  made  up  of  these  three  parts.  Impossible !  You  can  not. 

A  trinity  and  unity  forms  also  the  essence  of  every  surface.  If 
we  wish  to  enclose  a  space  by  straight  lines,  what  is  the  very  least 
number  of  such  lines  that  we  need  employ?  Three.  No  space  can 
be  enclosed,  and  no  surface  formed,  with  less  than  three  lines.  That 
is  the  minimum.  And  if  we  examine  the  matter  more  closely,  we 
shall  find  that  every  surface,  enclosed  by  straight  lines,  is  in  reality, 
either  a  single  triangle,  or  else  two  or  more  triangles  placed  side  by 
side.  Take,  for  instance,  the  very  page  which  you  are  reading. 
What  is  it  but  two  right-angled  triangles,  united  at  either  base? 
Draw  an  imaginary  line  right  across  the  page  from  one  corner  to 
the  opposite,  and  the  two  triangles  are  at  once  recognizable.  A 
pentagon  is  a  combination  of  three  triangles ;  a  hexagon  a  com- 
bination of  four;  in  fine,  every  rectilinear  figure,  when  analyzed, 


66  THE    CREED. 

may  be  resolved  into  a  collection  of  triangles.  Thus  a  trinity  con- 
trols all  surfaces,  as  well  as  all  lines.  And  we  have  already  shown 
it  also  enters  into  the  composition  of  all  solids,  which  necessarily 
possess  (i)  length,  (2)  breadth  and  (3)  thickness. 

These  few  examples  might  be  enormously  multiplied,*  but  time 
will  not  permit  us  to  enlarge  further  upon  this  fascinating  theme.  Let 
me,  however,  before  concluding,  beg  you  to  bear  in  mind  that  the 
threefold  divisions,  of  which  I  have  spoken,  are  not  arbitrary 
divisions  of  one's  own  inventing.  They  are  ingrained  in  the 
very  nature  of  things;  and  exist  independently  of  us  and  will 
continue  to  in  spite  of  us.  They  are  just  as  deeply  seated  as  any 
other  essential  characteristic  and  the  more  closely  we  examine  them 
the  more  clearly  we  perceive  the  impossibility  of  evading  this  ubiqui- 
tous shadow  of  the  trinity  in  unity,  and  the  unity  in  trinity,  which 
falls  upon  everything  which  God  has  made. 

We  will  conclude  with  two  singularly  interesting  illustrations. 
The  one  has  to  do  with  organic  life  in  general ;  and  the  other,  with 
the  special  life  of  each  individual  human  soul.  Taking  organic 
life  first,  we  see  at  a  glance,  that  it  is  a  single  stem  with  three 
totally  distinct  branches.  There  is  ( i )  vegetable  life,  enjoyed  by  all 
kinds  of  trees,  shrubs  and  plants ;  then  (2)  there  is  sensitive  or  purely 
animal  life,  possessed  by  all  kinds  of  birds,  beasts,  fish,  reptiles,  etc., 
and  (3)  lastly,  there  is  rational  life,  special  prerogative  for  men  of  all 
races  and  languages  and  colors.  This  is  no  fanciful  division.  The 
one  idea  "life"  is  present  in  all ;  yet  it  exhibits  itself  in  three  several 
ways.  No  one  can  discover  a  fourth  kind  of  organic  life.  There 
are  just  three :  no  more  and  no  less. 

Now  let  us  consider  an  individual  human  soul,  over  whose  desti- 
nies this  same  mysterious  trinity  holds  sway.  The  soul  enters  the 
earth  possessing  only  its  natural  life :  then  the  waters  of  Holy  Bap- 
tism flow  over  it,  and,  at  once,  it  is  lifted  up  above  nature  and  begins 
to  live  the  life  of  supernatural  grace;  which  is  totally  different  to  the 
life  of  mere  nature.  If  it  perseveres  it  dies  at  last  to  the  world,  but 
only  to  enter  upon  a  new  and  still  sublimer  life,  viz.,  the  life  of 
eternal  glory  in  heaven.  Now  observe.  It  is  one  and  the  same  soul ; 
yet  it  lives  in  succession  three  distinct  lives.  The  same  individual 
soul  is  at  one  period  leading  the  life  of  nature,  then  the  life  of 
grace,  and  finally  the  life  of  eternal  glory.  The  lives  are  three.  The 

*For  many  othor  instancw,  see  chapter  VI.  in  my  book:  "Thoughts  for 
All  Times." 


THE  HOLY   TRINITY.  67 

soul  is  one.    There  is  unity,  since  the  individual  remains  identical; 
there  is  trinity  because  the  states  are  distinctly  three. 

At  present  we  can  see  the  image  of  the  Blessed  Trinity  in  creation 
but  obscurely,  since  the  eyes  of  our  soul  are  bandaged;  yet  even 
now,  we  see  enough  to  fill  us  with  a  holy  wonder  and  admiration, 
and  to  excite  within  us  a  longing  for  the  future,  when  the  veil  will 
be  drawn  aside,  and  when  the  light  of  glory  will  fill  and  flood  our 
soul  with  a  fuller  and  deeper  knowledge  of  the  untold  splendors  of 
God's  uncreated  and  unparalleled  magnificence.  Let  us  close  our 
discourse  with  the  celestial  song  of  the  Seraphim,  as  heard  by 
Isaias,  and  adore  the  thrice  holy  Trinity,  as  we  repeat — if  not  with 
our  lips — at  least  with  our  hearts  and  minds :  "Holy !  Holy !  Holy ! 
Lord  God  of  Hosts,  all  the  earth  is  full  of  thy  glory." 


68  THE    CREED. 

VIII.  OBSCURITY  OF  RELIGIOUS  MYSTERIES. 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REV.  JAMES  BELLORD,  D.D. 

"If  any  man  love  me  he  will  keep  my  word,  and  my  Father  will  love  him, 
and  we  will  come  to  him  and  will  make  our  abode  with  him." — John  xvi,  23. 

SYNOPSIS. — The  world  looks  askance  at  faith  because  (i)  of  its  mysteries 
and  (2)  of  the  obscurity  of  these  mysteries. 

Reason  teaches  that  religion  must  contain  mysteries.  This  is  proven 
from  (j)  the  nature  of  religion,  (2)  the  nature  of  the  human  faculties, 
(j)  the  nature  of  faith,  i.  e.,  supernatural  gift.  Love  a  great  help  to  those 
who  seek  the  truths  of  faith.  Sin  a  great  obstacle  to  faith.  Our  Lord 
made  no  allowance  for  want  of  faith.  Reward  of  faith. 

I.  The  Blessed  Trinity  is  the  great  mystery  of  Christianity.  It  is 
absolutely  incomprehensible ;  it  is  not  capable  of  being  discovered,  or 
of  being  proved  true,  or  of  being  explained  and  made  clear  by  unaided 
reason,  as  some  other  truths  may  be ;  but  we  are  left  entirely  depend- 
ent on  revelation.  This  is  an  idea  against  which  very  many  have  re- 
volted. It  is  humbling  to  pride  of  intellect  that  an  important  matter  de- 
manding our  assent  should  not  be  submitted  for  our  examination 
and  approval.  Faith  is  belief  without  seeing.  There  are  many  who 
insist  that  seeing  is  believing,  and  in  consequence  they  will  not  en- 
dure the  yoke  of  religion.  If  religion  were  simply  a  human  institu- 
tion, it  would  be  very  well  for  men  to  insist  on  understanding  thor- 
oughly before  accepting  it.  They  would  not  be  justified  in  enslav- 
ing their  intellect  by  promising  unconditional  obedience  to  a  mere 
man  and  binding  themselves  to  the  unknown.  This  is  what  the 
Church  condemns  in  secret  societies.  But  God  has  the  right,  and 
He  alone,  to  demand  such  a  sacrifice.  The  highest  homage  that  crea- 
tures can  render  God  is  the  oblation  of  their  noblest  faculty,  and  the 
submission  of  the  intellect  to  the  obedience  of  faith,  by  giving  the 
firmest  assent  to  truths  propounded  by  God  and  not  understood  by 
us.  This  service  is  actually  demanded  by  God,  and  it  is  necessarily 
demanded  in  supernatural  religion.  If  God  has  revealed  to  us  any 
truths  of  a  superior  order,  there  must  be  obscurities  and  mysteries. 
The  acceptance  of  these  is  a  necessary  part  of  our  duty  if  we  are  to 
"honor  God  with  our  substance"  (Prov.  iii,  9),  i.  e.  to  serve  Him 
with  each  one  of  our  faculties.  There  can  be  no  true  religion  with- 


THE  OBSCURITY  OF  RELIGIOUS  MYSTERIES.  69 

out  this  demand  and  this  service.  But  this  is  just  what  a  certain 
part  of  the  world  will  not  tolerate.  It  does  not  want  the  super- 
natural in  any  form,  and  it  will  maintain  its  intellectual  independence 
even  in  the  face  of  God.  It  has  said  plainly:  "I  will  not  serve" 
(Jerem.  ii,  20). 

The  enemies  of  religion  are  forever  denouncing  it  as  unreason- 
able for  the  very  qualities  which  reason  requires  that  it  should  have, 
viz.,  for  its  mysteries  and  their  obscurity.  The  mystery  of  the  Holy 
Trinity,  has  been  a  favorite  object  of  attack ;  but  every  other  mystery 
has  been  assailed  in  turn — the  fall  of  Adam,  the  Incarnation,  Re- 
demption by  Jesus  Christ,  His  miracles,  the  Immaculate  Conception 
and  the  divine  maternity,  the  prerogative  of  the  Church,  her  holiness 
in  spite  of  scandals  within  her  boundaries,  the  resurrection 
of  the  body,  future  punishment.  Some  profess  to  find  these  incon- 
sistent with  known  facts,  opposed  to  the  evidence  of  human  reason, 
and  they  reject  them  in  common  with  the  whole  system.  On  the 
other  hand  there  have  been  some  who  have  accepted  all  Christian 
doctrines  reverently,  but  have  tried  to  minimize  their  obscurity; 
they  have  endeavored  to  explain  all  that  is  mysterious,  and  to  show 
that  the  hidden  things  of  God  are  well  within  the  grasp  of  human 
understanding.  This  is  a  faulty  excess.  Theological  reasoning 
can  do  much  in  proving  that  God  has  revealed  such  and  such  mys- 
teries, it  can  show  that  they  are  not  opposed  to  right  reason,  and  it 
can  make  comparisons  and  bring  illustrations,  but  it  never  pro- 
fesses to  make  men  fully  comprehend  these  truths.  Let  us  now  con- 
sider the  obscurity  of  religious  mysteries.  We  shall  see  that  it  is 
most  reasonable  that  religion  should  be  beyond  reason,  and  that 
this  fact  affords.no  ground  for  refusing  belief. 

II.  There  must  of  necessity  be  obscurity  and  mystery  in  religion, 
whether  we  consider  its  nature,  or  the  nature  of  human  faculties. 

I.  Different  kinds  of  truths  are  susceptible  of  different  kinds 
of  proof;  they  are  not  all  made  evident  to  us  in  the  same  way. 
Some  truths  we  grasp  at  once  by  intuition  as  soon  as  they  are  pre- 
sented to  us,  such  as  that  twice  two  are  four,  that  the  whole  of  a 
thing  is  greater  than  its  part.  Other  things  we  know  by  our  senses, 
such  as  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  the  harmony  of  certain  musical 
chords.  Other  things  we  know  by  reasoning  or  deduction,  and 
others  by  authority,  i.  e.,  being  told  of  them.  These  last  are  things 
which  are  past  or  far  off,  and  which  do  not  fall  under  our  observa- 
tion. In  this  case  we  examine  the  credibility  of  the  person  who  in- 


70  THE    CREED. 

forms  us,  his  sources  of  knowledge  and  his  truthfulness.  The  truths 
of  religion  are  of  this  class.  They  belong  to  a  higher  sphere  than 
nature ;  we  can  not  discover  them,  we  accept  them  on  the  word  of 
another ;  and  when  that  other  is  God  our  belief  is  divine  faith.  We 
can  find  proof  that  God  has  revealed  them,  and  that  they  come  to  us 
through  His  accredited  messengers,  but  they  can  not  be  demon- 
strated to  us  by  our  own  intuition,  by  our  senses,  or  by  deduction. 
This  of  course  must  be  the  case.  God  is  infinite  in  His  being  and  in 
perfections ;  man  is  limited,  and  infinitely  small  before  God.  The 
lesser  can  not  contain  the  greater.  Man  can  not  hold  the  ocean  in 
the  hollow  of  his  hand,  and  still  less  can  his  mind  comprehend  the 
immensity  of  God's  perfection.  That  which  is  beyond  the  grasp  of 
the  finite  is  mystery.  A  religion  which  contained  nothing  superior  to 
reason  would  not  include  God;  it  would  be  emptiness,  folly,  and 
falsehood.  A  religion  without  mystery  is  no  religion. 

How  can  any  one  expect  that  man  should  be  able  to  grasp  all  reli- 
gious truth?  Human  faculty  can  not  grasp  the  whole  of  anything, 
even  of  those  things  which  lie  within  its  own  range.  No  man, 
though  he  had  the  most  receptive  mind,  though  he  were  to  live  ten 
thousand  years,  would  be  able  to  take  in  even  the  products  of 
other  men's  minds.  He  could  not  even  skim  the  great  mass  of 
books  in  the  world,  the  productions  of  imagination  and  reflection  and 
experience,  the  compilations,  the  speculations,  the  observations  of 
innumerable  kinds.  The  sharpest  senses  fail  within  a  short  distance. 
No  one  claims  to  distinguish  an  object  ten  miles  off  as  clearly  as 
one  that  is  before  the  eyes ;  yet  some  expect  that  they  should  be  able 
to  master  the  remotest  secrets  of  the  Divinity,  as  they  would  a  piece 
of  present  mechanism.  Nature  and  human  life  are  full  of  inexplicable 
mysteries,  men  must  accept  and  acknowledge  them  without  under- 
standing. What  folly  it  is  and  what  presumption  for  any  to  think 
that  he  could  comprehend  all  the  mysteries  of  the  infinite  and  incom- 
prehensible !  The  faculty  of  reason,  which  he  sets  up  in  opposition  to 
mystery,  is  sufficient  to  show  him  that  the  existence  of  mystery  is 
most  reasonable. 

The  obscurity  of  divine  truths  is  not  an  imperfection  in  them,  as 
it  would  be  in  some  article  of  human  teaching;  but  it  is  a  conse- 
quence of  their  perfection  and  of  their  lofty  origin.  If  we  could 
sound  their  depths  that  very  fact  would  prove  that  they  could  not 
claim  our  assent  as  being  supernatural.  Moreover,  the  fact  that 
we  have  not  been  able  to  exhaust  them  in  this  life  assures  us  that 


THE  OBSCURITY  OF  RELIGIOUS  MYSTERIES.  71 

there  is  occupation  and  enjoyment  for  our  noblest  faculties  in  the 
next  world.  We  may  know  that  there  is  still  an  infinity  of  knowledge 
beyond  what  we  can  acquire  here,  that  our  real  life — the  life  of  ac- 
tion— is  not  ended  here,  but  that  a  fuller  life  with  boundless  occu- 
pation for  the  mind  will  begin  in  eternity. 

2.  Obscurity  in  religion  is  also  an  evident  requirement  from  the 
point  of  view  of  ourselves.  The  fact  that  faith  is  a  supreme  hom- 
age to  God  demands  that  there  be  a  sacrifice  of  self  in  it;  the  fact 
that  it  is  a  virtue  requires  that  there  be  an  exertion  in  practising  it; 
the  fact  that  it  is  highly  meritorious  demands  that  there  be  freedom 
in  choosing  or  rejecting  it.  If  religious  doctrines  were  as  evident 
as  the  multiplication  table,  they  would  simply  force  our  assent, 
there  would  be  no  alternative  of  rejection  possible,  our  assent  would 
not  be  free.  If  we  had  as  complete  an  unveiling  of  truth  as  the 
blessed  have  in  the  vision  of  God,  there  would  not  exist  the  freedom 
which  is  necessary  for  merit.  This  life  is  the  time  to  make  our 
choice  and  struggle  to  earn  our  reward.  God  wishes  that  our 
choice  should  be  a  generous  and  trustful  one,  honorable  alike  to 
Him  and  to  us.  The  supernatural  light  of  His  countenance  that  is 
shown  to  us  is  therefore  clear  enough  for  those  who  wish  to  receive 
it,  and  obscure  enough  to  enable  those  to  resist  who  will ;  and  so  it 
makes  obedience  meritorious.  Thus  we  have  neither  overwhelming 
evidence  nor  impenetrable  darkness.  The  obscurity  is  not  so  great 
as  to  make  it  folly  to  believe,  nor  the  clearness  sufficient  to  force 
our  assent.  Our  intelligence  and  our  liberty  have  both  a  full  action 
in  the  work  of  faith.  Those  who  make  their  own  will  the  rule  of 
belief,  who  have  rejected  what  they  consider  obscure,  and  who  have 
accepted  certain  doctrines  simply  because  they  are  satisfactory  to 
themselves,  have  rendered  no  homage  to  God,  they  have  not  served 
Him  from  their  own  substance,  they  have  no  faith,  they  can  earn  no 
supernatural  reward. 

III.  Another  thing  that  removes  spiritual  truth  out  of  the  domin- 
ion of  man's  faculties  is,  that  faith  in  them  is  not  a  natural  acquisi- 
tion, but  a  special  gift  of  God.  "It  is  not  of  him  that  willeth  nor 
of  him  that  runneth,  but  of  God  that  showeth  mercy"  (Rom.  ix,  16). 
It  is  irregular  and  unaccountable  in  its  comings  and  its  goings  •  for 
"the  spirit  breatheth  where  he  will  .  .  .  thou  knowest  not 
whence  he  cometh  and  whither  he  goeth"  (John  iii,  8).  The  apti- 
tude for  understanding  and  holding  on  to  divine  truths  is  specially 
infused  into  the  soul  by  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism.  Otherwise  a 


7,  THE    CREED. 

man  is  called  in  God's  own  time,  it  may  be  sooner,  or  it  may  be  later. 
None  can  anticipate  that  time :  "No  man  can  come  to  me  except  the 
Father  who  hath  sent  me  draw  him"  (John  vi,  44).  When  the  light 
is  given  them,  it  is  granted  as  a  reward  for  past  constancy  and  good- 
will, or  with  a  view  to  future  profits;  it  is  not  vouchsafed  for  the 
satisfaction  of  curiosity,  nor  for  the  interests  of  science,  nor  as 
the  fruit  of  simply  intellectual  strivings.  To  those  who  seek  in 
these  last  ways  it  is  said,  "you  shall  seek  me  and  shall  not  find  me ; 
and  where  I  am,  thither  you  can  not  come"  (John  vii,  34).  This 
is  the  kind  of  obscurity  that  many  complain  of  and  resent,  but  it  is 
no  discredit  to  religious  truth,  for  it  has  been  caused  by  the  seekers 
themselves;  it  is  no  obscurity  in  the  truth  itself.  So  we  can  not 
say  that  the  sun  has  lost  its  brightness  when  dense  vapors  rise 
from  stagnant  swamps  and  hide  its  face. 

The  gift  of  God's  illumination  is  withheld  from  those  who  persist 
in  using  inadequate  means  for  spiritual  investigations.  Some  knowl- 
edge is  gained  by  sense  alone;  as  sight,  even  without  intelligence, 
perceives  the  noon-day  sun.  Abstract  truths  of  science  are  per- 
ceived by  the  intellect;  sight  alone  is  inadequate;  it  is  unnecessary, 
too,  but  it  is  useful  for  the  gaining  of  information.  The  moral  and 
spiritual  faculties  are  not  required  for  the  truths  of  nature,  but  they 
are  absolutely  necessary  for  considering  the  truths  of  the  higher 
spiritual  order.  For  this  purpose  the  faculties  of  sense,  and  even 
the  faculties  of  the  intelligence,  and  the  highest  secular  training,  are 
quite  inadequate.  Those  who  possess  these  advantages  are  the  most 
likely  to  over-estimate  their  value  and  apply  them  beyond  their 
proper  limits ;  and  hence  that  word  of  our  blessed  Lord :  "I  confess 
to  thee,  O  Father,  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  because  thou  hast  hid- 
den these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed  them 
to  little  ones"  (Matt,  xi,  25).  This  doctrine  that  the  trained  intel- 
lect is  inadequate  for  religious  judgment  is  hateful  to  the  proud  and 
worldly,  but  it  is  a  doctrine  full  of  hope  and  comfort  for  the  multi- 
tudes, for  the  poor,  the  suffering,  the  unfortunate.  The  obscurity 
of  religious  mystery  before  the  scrutiny  of  science  is  an  implication 
that  God's  best  gifts  are  open  equally  to  all,  that  the  ignorant  have 
the  same  opportunities  as  the  most  learned,  that  spiritual  eminence 
does  not  follow  accidental  natural  advantages,  and  that  "there  is  no 
respect  of  persons  with  God"  (Coloss.  iii,  25).  If  it  were  otherwise, 
the  learned  would  have  an  exceptional  advantage,  and  the  bulk  of 
mankind  would  be  cut  off  by  their  station  in  life  from  all  super- 


THE  OBSCURITY  OF  RELIGIOUS  MYSTERIES.  73 

natural  privileges,  for  they  have  neither  the  leisure  nor  the  intelli- 
gence for  the  scientific  examination  of  religion. 

There  are  many  who  forget  that  God  is  not  only  Truth  but  also 
Love.  He  is  to  be  sought  with  the  heart  as  well  as  with  the  intellect. 
Reason  can  do  no  more  than  grasp  at  the  skirts  of  God's  garment 
as  He  passes  by,  it  is  love  that  sees  His  face.  Therefore  so  many 
fail  in  the  search  after  God;  their  minds  may  be  acute  enough  but 
their  hearts  are  corrupt.  Now,  the  keeping  of  God's  commandments 
is  the  measure  of  love,  and  he  whose  intentions  are  good  and  whose 
life  is  pure,  will  gain  a  deeper  insight  than  reading  and  thought  can 
give.  Sin,  especially  carnal  sin,  the  love  of  wealth,  and  pride,  are 
the  destruction  of  the  love  of  God ;  and  without  this,  the  highest  in- 
tellectual ability  will  never  discover  God.  Dry  argument  can  never 
do  the  work  of  love,  and  hence  there  is  such  a  thing  as  a  sinner  or 
an  unbeliever  being  thoroughly  convinced  yet  not  converted. 

On  the  same  principle  an  immoral  life  saps  the  faith  and  leads  to 
unbelief ;  and  the  prevalence  of  sensuality,  at  any  epoch,  or  through- 
out any  country,  produces,  as  its  immediate  consequence,  an  uprising 
of  the  intellect  against  the  yoke  of  supernatural  belief.  However 
much  religion  may  be  injured  by  ridicule  and  calumny,  it  is  under- 
mined most  surely  by  the  spread  of  immorality.  Where  the  chief 
obstacles  of  the  Church  in  a  country  are  prejudice  and  hatred,  she 
can  gain  admission  by  degrees  to  men's  respect,  dispel  their  ignor- 
ance, and  finally  gain  them  over.  But  where  her  foes  can  manage  to 
propagate  a  spirit  of  unchastity,  there  religion  must  fade  out  and 
disappear.  The  leaders  of  infidelity  know  full  well  that  it  is  not 
enlightenment  that  is  fatal  to  religion,  but  immorality ;  and  they  do 
not  hesitate  to  use  against  supernatural  life  a  poisoned  weapon  which 
will  be  even  more  fatal  to  the  natural  life  of  men. 

IV.  We  may  justly  conclude  that  there  is  hardly  even  a  superfi- 
cial plausibility  about  objections  against  religion  on  account  of  the 
incomprehensibility  of  its  mysteries.  It  is  generally  but  the  excuse 
of  those  who  do  not  wish  to  believe,  and  who  want  the  credit  of  a 
sincerity  which  they  do  not  really  possess.  There  is  nothing  con- 
trary to  reason,  there  is  no  abdication  of  our  natural  liberty  in 
"bringing  into  captivity  every  understanding  unto  the  obedience  of 
Christ"  (II  Cor.  x,  5).  Our  self-sufficiency  and  our  natural  way- 
wardness may  revolt,  but  it  is  a  calumny  against  reason  to  say  there 
is  any  incompatibility  between  it  and  divine  faith.  It  desires  knowl- 


74  THE    CREED. 

edge  indeed,  but  it  is  able  to  recognize  its  own  limitations,  and  .can 
wait  in  patience  for  the  day  of  God's  full  revelation. 

There  is  no  such  being  as  a  man  devoid  of  the  aptitude  for  super- 
natural religion.  Every  man  is  made  by  God  and  is  made  for  God. 
Education,  heredity,  temperament,  may  place  special  difficulties  in 
the  way,  but  these  are  no  more  entitled  to  the  respectful  considera- 
tion they  generally  meet  with,  than  a  man's  natural  inclination  toward 
lying,  stealing,  or  debauchery.  God  permits  these  depraved  impulses 
so  that  we  may  have  matter  for  a  struggle  and  glory  for  overcom- 
ing. Opportunities  of  sufficient  knowledge  are  wanting  to  none. 
Education,  abundance  of  communication  with  other  minds,  the  uni- 
versality of  religious  practices  and  worship,  the  interest  and  attrac- 
tion that  seem  to  rise  spontaneously  for  religion,  and  above  all, 
the  grace  of  Him  who  "enlighteneth  every  man  that  cometh  into  the 
world"  (John  i,  9),  all  this  ensures  sufficient  guidance  to  lead  every 
man  through  darkness  to  the  light. 

In  the  gospels  Our  Lord  never  treats  the  want  of  faith  as  a  mere 
natural  incapacity  for  believing,  or  as  excused  by  the  obscurity  which 
surrounded  Him.  His  divine  personality,  His  Incarnation,  His  au- 
thority were  obscured  by  the  infirmity  which  He  assumed.  There 
were  many  presumptions  against  Him  derived  from  His  reputed 
origin  and  even  from  the  Scriptures.  "Is  not  this  the  son  of  the 
carpenter?"  (Matt,  xiii,  55)  they  asked;  and  "Can  anything  of  good 
come  from  Nazareth?"  (John  i,  46).  His  eternal  Father's  testimony 
to  Him  at  the  Jordan  was  not  understood  by  all,  His  manifestation 
on  Mount  Tabor  was  witnessed  only  by  three.  The  personal  word 
of  God  in  the  flesh  seems  to  have  been  more  obscure  than  His  spoken 
word  in  His  Church.  Yet  with  all  His  mercy  and  broad  sympathy, 
Our  Lord  seems  to  make  no  allowance  for  want  of  faith  in  Him. 
He  reproves  St.  Peter  and  the  apostles.  He  tells  the  Jews  that  their 
disbelief  is  more  guilty  than  the  sins  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrha.  He 
makes  no  account  of  the  obscurity  that  surrounded  Him  in  mitiga- 
tion of  their  unbelief,  but  attributes  it  to  their  hardness  of  heart,  and 
resistance  to  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  not  open  to  us  to  doubt  that, 
in  like  manner,  many  who  declare  that  the  light  is  not  sufficient  to 
make  the  dark  ways  plain  to  them,  are  really  sinning  against  the 
light  and  grace  of  God,  and  preparing  themselves  for  final  rejection 
by  Him. 

Those  who  do  not  revolt  against  the  obscurity  in  which  God  has 
involved  His  supernatural  mysteries,  find  their  reward  even  here 


THE  OBSCURITY  OF  RELIGIOUS  MYSTERIES.  75 

below  in  the  fulfilment  of  that  promise :  "Darkness  shall  not  be  dark 
to  thee,  and  night  shall  be  light  as  the  day"  (Ps.  cxxxviii,  12). 
Through  the  dimness  there  come  to  them  rays  of  a  knowledge,  more 
lofty,  more  secure,  more  steadfast,  more  satisfying,  than  all  the 
knowledge  of  earthly  things.  The  invisible  world  is  as  real  to  them 
as  the  cities  where  they  live.  They  walk  in  the  presence  of  God,  they 
feel  the  gentle  guidance  of  His  hand,  and  hear  the  murmur  of  His 
voice  in  their  souls.  They  are  in  union  with  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
in  the  Blessed  Eucharist.  The  spirit  of  God  has  really  made  them 
His  abode  and  His  temples.  While  they  walk  this  earth  they  live 
in  the  society  of  the  blessed.  They  "are  come  to  mount  Sion,  and  to 
the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  to  the  com- 
pany of  many  thousands  of  angels,  and  to  the  Church  of  the  first- 
born who  are  written  in  the  heavens,  and  to  God  the  judge  of  all, 
and  to  the  spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect,  and  to  Jesus,  the  mediator 
of  the  New  Testament"  (Heb.  xii,  22-24). 


?6  THE    CREED. 


IX.    GOD  THE   FATHER  AND   CREATOR. 


BY  THE  REV.  THOMAS  J.  GERRARD. 

"Know  ye  that  the  Lord  he  is  God :  He  made  us  and  not  we  ourselves." — 
Ps.  xcix.  3. 

SYNOPSIS. — Instruction. — The  dogma  of  creation  has  a  bearing  on  prac- 
tical life.  Experience  shows  the  need  of  such  a  dogma.  Revelation 
shows  the  fact  of  such  a  dogma.  Experience  and  revelation  combine  to 
produce  the  practical  fruits  of  the  dogma. 

Exposition.  I.  From  experience :  Man  knows  he  is  not  self -sufficient. 
The  mean  between  absolute  dependence  and  independence  is  true  free- 
dom. The  true  sense  of  dependence  felt  more  keenly  in  regard  to  our 
beginning  and  last  end  and  in  regard  to  our  moral  conduct.  Moral  con- 
science must  come  from  a  First  Cause.  The  First  Cause  primarily  sym- 
bolised as  a  fatherhood;  secondly,  as  intelligent  workmanship;  finally,  as 
a  simple  act  of  will-power. 

II.  From  revelation:  Creation  in  time.     Order  of  Creation.     Bib- 
lical and  physical  sciences  practically   agree.     The  "vision   theory"   a 
plausible   explanation.     Primary   and   secondary   creation.     The   special 
creation  of  the  soul.    Points  to  be  remembered  against  extreme  evolu- 
tionists.    Evolution  within   certain   limits   not   opposed   to   faith.     The 
records  of  both  the  Bible  and  the  rocks  show  the  same  order,  viz.,  the 
separation  of  the  planet  from  the  rest  of  planets;  the  land  from  the  sea; 
the  successive  origins  of  plant,  fish,  bird,  brute  and  man. 

III.  Difficulties  answered.    Absence  of  evidence.     Neglect  of  Bible 
evidence.    Ex  nihilo  nihil  fit.    The  difference  between  particular  causes 
and  the  universal  cause. 

Conclusion. — Practical  fruits.  Knowledge  of  the  supreme  majesty 
of  God.  Thankfulness  to  God  for  all  He  has  done  for  us.  The  right 
use  of  creatures.  The  dignity  of  man.  The  realisation  of  God's  father- 
hood and  practical  consequences  of  this  realisation;  viz.,  patience  in  ad- 
versity and  confidence  in  God's  goodness. 

The  first  article  of  the  creed  is  the  first  article  of  our  morals. 
We  profess  our  belief  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  Creator  of  heaven 
and  earth,  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible.  We  thereby  imply  that 
we  have  an  obligation  of  acknowledging  ourselves  the  creatures  of 
God,  of  living  and  acting  as  children  and  subjects  of  God,  of  render- 
ing to  God  our  supreme  homage,  worship,  obedience  and  service. 
That  truth  is  written  both  in  the  hearts  of  men  and  the  revealed  book 
of  God.  By  neglecting  either  of  these  sources  of  information,  con- 
fused, inadequate  and  even  false  ideas  concerning  the  relationship 
between  Creator  and  creature  arise.  Let  us  then  try  to  look  at  this 
truth  from  the  two  points  of  view.  Let  us  first  consult  human 
reason  and  experience  and  see  how  our  nature  demands  the  truth  of 


GOD  THE  FATHER  AND  CREATOR.          77 

God  the  Creator;  and  then  let  us  consult  the  revealed  word  of  God 
and  see  how  fully  that  demand  is  satisfied. 

One  of  the  first  instincts  of  our  nature  is  our  sense  of  dependence 
on  another.  The  words  "dependence,"  "independence,"  and  "free- 
dom" have  been  used  with  varying  significations.  Man,  along  with 
his  sense  of  dependence  on  another,  has  a  sense  of  the  need  of  free- 
dom. The  exaggeration  of  these  two  needs  has  led  to  errors  in  both 
directions.  The  exaggeration  of  the  "dependence"  notion  has  led  to 
tyranny  and  slavery.  The  exaggeration  of  the  "freedom"  notion  has 
led  to  license  and  rebellion.  There  is  a  golden  mean  between  the  two. 
There  is  a  dependence  on  lawful  authority  which  is  the  guarantee 
of  the  most  perfect  freedom.  This  is  the  true  instinct  which  man 
feels. 

A  man's  life-history  is  a  gradual  learning  of  this  fact.  He  is  born 
a  helpless  infant.  All  he  can  do  is  to  experience  his  simple  needs  and 
cry  about  them.  He  could  not  live  for  a  day  were  it  not  that  the 
kindly  hands  of  his  mother  kept  him  folded  to  her  breast  and  con- 
trolled his  constantly  erring  ways.  His  education  consists  of  one 
long  series  of  alternate  mistakes  and  corrections.  His  dependence 
on  others  is  maintained  right  until  the  end  of  life.  Nay,  as  he  ap- 
proaches the  end  of  life  his  dependence  on  others  increases  more  and 
more.  When  he  is  younger  he  may  gird  himself  and  walk  where 
he  will;  but  when  he  is  old  another  must  gird  him  and  lead  him 
whither  he  will  not. 

This  sense  of  dependence  felt  so  keenly  in  the  social  affairs  of 
life  becomes  accentuated  immensely  when  one  considers  the  higher 
issues :  our  beginning  and  our  end ;  our  powers  of  doing  good  and 
evil.  We  feel  instinctively  that  we  did  not  make  ourselves  and  that 
we  do  not  belong  to  ourselves.  Then  our  reason  sets  to  work  to 
justify  our  feeling.  We  argue  back  from  effect  to  cause  until  at  last 
we  must  come  to  the  Being  who  is  the  First  Cause  of  all  things. 
Things  can  not  make  themselves.  Neither  can  there  be  a  long  end- 
less chain  of  them  with  no  beginning.  Neither  do  we  escape  the  diffi- 
culty by  saying  that  we  do  not  know  our  origin.  The  mind  can  only 
find  rest  in  the  same  truth  in  which  the  whole  human  spirit  finds 
rest,  in  the  truth  of  our  God  who  is  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth. 

The  act  by  virtue  of  which  God  brought  the  world  into  existence 
ts  a  great  mystery  and  quite  beyond  our  imagination.  The  human 
mind,  however,  has  made  various  attempts  to  express  the  nature  of 
this  act.  Thus  th*  symbol  of  "parent"  has  always  been  the  first  at- 


7g  THE    CREED. 

tempt  to  represent  the  divine  causality.  The  first  link  in  the  chain 
of  thought  by  which  we  go  back  from  ourselves  to  the  beginning  of 
things  is  the  link  between  father  and  son.  Our  first  conception 
therefore  of  the  great  Being  who  was  the  author  of  our  being  is 
that  of  a  father :  I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty. 

Alongside  the  notion  of  fatherhood  there  is  the  notion  of  the 
intelligent  workman.  The  work  of  the  great  God  was  manifestly 
one  of  vast  genius.  The  artist  who  modeled  in  clay  was  a  fitting 
symbol  of  the  skill  required  for  shaping  the  sun,  moon  and  stars ;  the 
land  and  the  sea ;  the  green  herb,  and  cattle,  and  man.  And  so  we 
have  a  synthesis  made  expressing  fatherhood  and  makership:  I 
believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  Maker  of  heaven  and  earth. 

Yet  even  this  expression  was  crude  as  a  representation  of  God's 
creative  act.  Accordingly  the  most  spiritual  faculty  of  man  was 
chosen,  his  will.  This  was  made  the  final  symbol  of  God's  creative 
act.  "Thou  hast  created  all  things ;  and  for  thy  will  (propter  volun- 
tatem  tuam)  they  were,  and  have  been  created."  By  the  simple 
nod  of  God's  will  things  are  produced  out  of  nothing.  Fiat  lux:  et 
facta  est  lux :  "Let  there  be  light  and  there  was  light."  Thus,  al- 
though there  are  so  many  proofs  from  reason  of  God  the  Creator  of 
all  things,  the  proof  which  touches  nearest  to  the  truth  and  which 
gives  most  of  the  truth  is  the  proof  from  human  conscience ;  for  it 
is  conscience  which  tells  us  what  is  moral  goodness  and  is  thus  the 
most  perfect  image  we  possess  of  Divine  Goodness.  It  is  by  the 
voice  of  conscience  that  we  hear  most  distinctly  the  voice  of  the  Holy 
Spirit :  "Know  ye  that  the  Lord  he  is  God :  He  made  us  and  not  we 
ourselves." 

Turning  to  the  pages  of  Holy  Writ  we  strike  new  and  rich  sources 
of  knowledge  concerning  creation.  First  we  are  told  of  creation  in 
time.  The  greatest  of  pagan  philosophers  held  that  matter  was 
eternal.  St.  Thomas,  probably  out  of  respect  for  Aristotle,  taught 
that  eternal  creation  was  not  intrinsically  impossible.  Theologians 
are  divided  with  regard  to  this  speculation.  We  know,  however, 
from  divine  revelation,  that  the  world  was  not  eternal.  "In  the  be- 
ginning God  created  heaven  and  earth."  God's  internal  activity  had 
gone  on  through  all  ages  producing  the  three  Divine  Persons.  Then 
the  divine  will  sought  an  external  object  for  its  activity.  First  it 
produced  a  world  of  angels.  They  had  a  system  of  laws  of  their 
own ;  and  though  many  interesting  facts  concerning  them  have  been 
revealed  to  us,  their  manner  of  life  and  action  is  beyond  our  under- 


COD  THE  FATHER  AND  CREATOR.         79 

standing.  Then  the  divine .  activity  produced  our  material  world. 
Finally  God  combined  a  material  and  spiritual  world  in  one  creation, 
man ;  and  with  man  created  the  world  of  supernatural  grace,  raising 
man  to  the  higher  plane  of  union  with  God. 

Secondly,  we  are  told  of  the  order  of  creation.  Various  interpre- 
tations have  been  given  to  the  opening  chapters  of  the  book  of 
Genesis.  A  very  plausible  explanation  is  what  is  known  as  the 
"vision  theory."  A  vision  may  be  seen  either  of  present  or  of  future 
or  of  past  events.  In  the  case  of  creation  the  sacred  writer  would, 
as  it  were,  look  backwards.  His  description  need  not  correspond 
with  the  events  in  every  detail.  His  vision  would  be  partly  symbol- 
ical, since  he  would  have  to  describe  the  action  of  God  whom  he 
could  not  see;  and  partly  realistic,  since  he  would  have  to  describe 
events  just  as  they  happened.  It  is  now  universally  believed  that  the 
days  were  periods  of  time  some  of  which  may  have  consisted  of 
millions  of  years.  These  periods  would  be  presented  before  the  mind 
of  the  sacred  writer  as  separate  scenes  of  the  vision.  Apart  from 
little  differences  of  this  kind  the  order  of  creation,  as  revealed  in  the 
strata  of  the  earth,  agrees  with  the  order  revealed  in  the  opening 
chapters  of  the  book  of  Genesis. 

The  word  "creation"  has  two  meanings.  In  one  sense  it  means  the 
making  of  something  out  of  nothing.  In  another  sense  it  means 
the  arrangement  and  development  or  evolution  of  that  first  something 
into  the  subsequent  forms  of  nature.  There  are  various  opinions  as 
to  what  extent  this  evolution  took  place.  A  Catholic  is  allowed 
much  freedom  in  this  matter.  One  thing,  however,  he  is  bound  to 
hold  against  all  extreme  evolutionists,  namely,  that  the  soul  of  man 
was  specially  created  and  infused  into  the  body  by  God.  There  are 
other  truths  bearing  on  this  subject  which,  though  not  of  Catholic 
faith,  should  be  insisted  upon  in  the  name  of  science.  The  two  most 
important  are,  first,  that  no  one  has  yet  succeeded  in  producing  life 
from  non-life ;  and  secondly,  that  no  one  has  yet  bridged  the  gulf  be- 
tween reason  and  sensation.  These  truths  are  the  two  great  stumbling- 
blocks  which  lie  in  the  way  of  those  shallow  scientists  who  would 
explain  away  the  dogma  of  creation  by  an  artificial  and  exaggerated 
system  of  evolution.  It  is  well  to  insist  upon  the  fact  that  the  records 
of  the  rocks  show  practically  the  same  order  as  the  records  of  Scrip- 
ture. First  the  common  substance  of  the  whole  universe  was  pro- 
duced from  nothing.  "In  the  beginning  God  created  heaven  and 
earth."  From  parallels  throughout  the  whole  Bible  it  is  seen  that 


8o  THE    CREED. 

"heaven  and  earth"  is  the  usual  expression  for  "all  things."  "I  am 
the  Lord  that  make  all  things,  that  alone  stretch  out  the  heavens, 
that  establish  the  earth,  and  there  is  none  with  me."  From  the  first 
common  substance  there  is  made  the  division  of  this  planet  from 
other  planets,  of  the  world  from  the  sky.  Then  comes  the  separation 
of  the  land  from  the  water,  the  two  great  divisions  of  lifeless  nature. 
From  the  germs  of  life  planted  in  each  of  these  there  springs  suc- 
cessively, the  life  of  the  green  herb,  and  fruitful  tree ;  of  the  fishes  of 
the  sea  and  the  birds  of  the  air ;  of  the  beasts  and  creeping  creatures 
of  the  earth.  Finally  man  is  made  by  the  special  creation  of  his 
soul  and  the  infusion  of  it  into  his  already  prepared  body.  The  grace 
by  which  he  is  raised  to  a  supernatural  dignity  is  conferred  at  the 
first  moment  of  his  creation. 

There  are  two  classes  of  objections  which  are  urged  against  the 
fact  of  creation.  The  first  class  is  based  on  the  absence  of  positive 
evidence  for  the  fact.  The  answer  to  this  difficulty  has  already  been 
anticipated  in  the  evidence  of  divine  revelation.  Were  it  not  for 
revelation  we  should  not  be  so  sure  of  our  answer,  for,  as  we  have 
seen,  the  idea  of  possible  eternal  creation  is  one  that  commended  itself 
to  the  greatest  of  our  theologians.  We  can  not  wonder  then  if  those 
who  reject  the  express  revelation  of  God  find  themselves  obliged  to 
profess  ignorance  concerning  the  origin  of  the  world. 

The  other  class  may  be  reduced  to  one  difficulty,  namely,  the  intrin- 
sic impossibility  of  producing  something  out  of  nothing.  It  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  trite  formula :  Ex  nihilo  nihil  fit.-  This  axiom  of  the 
old  philosophers  was  formulated  out  of  their  experience  of  particu- 
lar causes  and  effects.  Certainly  there  has  never  been  known  a  par- 
ticular agent  who  could  produce  something  out  of  nothing.  But  the 
same  can  not  be  said  of  the  universal  cause  of  all  things.  The  fact 
that  God  is  God  and  that  He  is  omnipotent  is  sufficient  to  assure  us 
that  He  can  produce  something  from  nothing,  though  how  He  does 
it  must  remain  to  us  a  lifelong  mystery. 

From  experience  and  life  we  have  reasoned  to  the  fact  of  creation. 
From  revelation  we  learnt  many  supplementary  truths  about  crea- 
tion. Now  we  may  direct  our  fuller  knowledge  to  a  more  fruitful 
life  and  experience.  The  first  fruit  is  especially  seasonable  in  these 
days — a  knowledge  of  the  supreme  majesty  of  God.  Among  many 
classes,  even  where  the  existence  of  God  is  admitted,  His  rights  are 
conceded  sparingly,  as  if  man  were  only  a  little  smaller  than  God.  In 
Germany  there  is  one  sect  which  has  altered  the  form  of  the  Lord's 


GOD   THE  FATHER  AND   CREATOR.  81 

Prayer  to  express  this  feeling.*  They  do  not  say  "Vater  tinser"  as 
of  old,  but  "Unser  Vater,"  signifying  that  we  come  first  and  God 
second,  that  we  must  decide  how  far  God  shall  exercise  His  dominion 
over  us.  Our  appreciation  of  the  dogma  of  creation,  however,  saves 
us  from  such  unspeakable  conceit.  The  new  discoveries  of  astron- 
omy, although  they  may  spoil  our  childhood  imagination  of  a  heaven 
just  on  the  other  side  of  that  blue  sky  which  we  see,  unfold  for  us 
vaster  conceptions  of  the  immensity  of  God  and  of  the  magnitude  of 
His  creation.  It  has  been  computed  that  an  express  train,  going  fifty 
miles  an  hour,  would  take  4,500  million  centuries  to  cross  our  uni- 
verse. It  can  therefore  only  be  the  most  blind  infatuation  that  can 
seek  to  exalt  small  man  to  a  level  of  divinity.  On  the  other  hand 
the  acknowledgment  of  our  smallness  in  the  midst  of  God's  vast  cre- 
ation is  the  root  and  beginning  of  all  our  spirituality.  It  crushes 
our  inborn  pride.  It  makes  us  realize  at  once  that  God  is  the  Alpha 
and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  the  end,  who  is,  who  was,  and  who 
is  to  come,  the  Almighty. 

Next  will  come  a  sense  of  thankfulness  to  God.  If  it  be  so  true 
that  once  we  were  nothing,  that  once  the  present  vast  universe  was 
nothing,  that  every  phase  of  life  which  we  enjoy  comes  from  the 
creative  hand  of  God,  then  there  can  be  no  degree  of  gratitude  too 
great  to  express  our  indebtedness  to  God.  St.  Paul  may  well  ask  of 
God's  ministers :  "What  hast  thou  that  thou  hast  not  received  ?"  The 
same  question  may  be  asked  of  every  man,  and  it  is  the  duty,  or 
rather  the  privilege,  of  every  man  to  refer  his  gifts  to  their  source : 
"Bless  the  Lord,  O  my  soul,  and  never  forget  all  that  He  hath  done 
for  thee." 

The  same  dogma  shows  us  the  appointed  way  to  union  with  God. 
St.  Ignatius  explains  it  in  his  famous  meditation  on  the  right  use  of 
creatures.  If  God  created  all  things  then  God  alone  has  supreme 
dominion  over  them.  Man  has  only  the  temporary  use  of  them. 
Man  therefore  must  use  them  as  God's  property.  It  is  expressly 
written:  "The  Lord  hath  made  all  things  for  himself."  On  the 
other  hand  the  enjoyment  of  these  things  is  for  man,  but  only  so  far 
as  God  sees  fit :  "Of  every  tree  of  paradise  thou  shalt  eat :  but  of  the 


*"Das  'Unser  Vater'  ein  schon  Gebet 
Es  dient  und  hilft,  in  alien  Nothen; 
Wenn  einer  auch  'Vater  Unser'  fleht, 
In  Gottes  Namen,  lass  ihn  beten." 

Goethe. 


8a  THE  CREED. 

tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil  thou  shalt  not  eat."  Our  duties 
in  this  respect  therefore  fall  into  two  classes,  the  pleasant  duties  and 
the  unpleasant  ones.  It  is  our  duty  for  instance  to  love  all  our 
neighbors — they  are  all  creatures  of  God.  But  then  among  neigh- 
bors there  are  the  disagreeable  as  well  as  the  agreeable.  It  would 
be  impossible  and  contrary  to  human  nature  that  our  love  should  in 
all  respects  be  the  same  toward  each.  We  can,  however,  find  differ- 
ent motives,  all  based  on  the  dogma  of  creation,  by  which  we  can 
fulfil  our  duty  of  loving  all  men.  In  so  far  as  our  neighbor  is  agree- 
able, attractive  and  winning,  he  manifests  some  reflection  of  divine 
goodness,  and  we  are  said  to  love  him  in  God.  In  this  case  we  draw 
near  to  God  through  our  neighbor.  In  the  other  case,  however,  we 
must  go  to  our  neighbor  through  God.  Knowing  that  God  created 
him  we  must  believe  that  God  had  some  beautiful  design  in  doing 
so  and  love  him  accordingly.  Here  we  are  said  to  love  our  neigh- 
bor for  the  sake  of  God.  Indeed  the  whole  order  of  creatures,  ac- 
cording as  they  are  rightly  used,  is  the  ladder  which  leads  from 
earth  to  heaven. 

This  middle  place  between  the  rest  of  creatures  and  God  gives  to 
man  a  great  dignity.  "Thou  hast  subjected  all  things  under  his  feet, 
all  sheep  and  oxen:  moreover  the  beasts  also  of  the  fields."  The 
subjection  of  the  lower  creation  to  man  is  symbolical  of  man's  sub- 
jection to  God.  It  is  through  the  intelligent  will  of  man  that  God 
receives  the  homage  of  irrational  nature.  In  so  far  then  as  man 
does  not  use  his  possessions  intelligently  for  God's  glory  he  fails  in 
his  high  office  to  which  he  has  been  deputed. 

Lastly,  the  dogma  of  creation  reveals  to  us  the  fatherhood  of  God. 
The  Creator  of  heaven  and  earth  is  God  the  Father  Almighty.  The 
notion  of  God  the  Creator  implies  that  we  are  creatures  and  abso- 
lutely subject  to  God ;  but  the  notion  of  the  Creator-Father  implies 
that  we  are  children  and  the  objects  of  fatherly  love  and  solicitude. 
And  the  fruit  of  this  truth  is  patience  in  the  misfortunes  of  life.  At 
each  stage  of  creation  God  looked  upon  His  work  and  pronounced  it 
to  be  good.  At  the  end  He  took  a  view  of  the  whole  of  what  He  had 
made  and  said  it  was  very  good.  We  therefore  must  believe  that 
God  could  not  create  anything  knowing  it  to  be  bad.  This  was  the 
truth  that  inspired  the  mother  of  the  Machabees  to  take  her  sons  so 
heroically  and  with  them  to  go  to  martyrdom.  The  story  may  well 
express  what  ought  to  be  our  attitude  in  the  face  of  the  compara- 
tively small  troubles  which  we  have  to  meet.  The  sacred  writer  de- 


GOD    THE   FATHER  AND   CREATOR.  83 

scribes  her  as  possessed  of  a  man's  heart  and  a  woman's  thought  and 
as  thus  speaking  to  her  sons :  "I  know  not  how  you  were  formed  in 
my  womb :  for  I  neither  gave  you  breath,  nor  soul,  nor  life,  neither 
did  I  frame  the  limbs  of  every  one  of  you.  But  the  Creator  of  the 
world,  that  formed  the  nativity  of  man,  and  that  found  out  the  origin 
of  all,  he  will  restore  to  you  again  in  his  mercy,  both  breath  and  life, 
as  now  you  despise  yourselves  for  the  sake  of  his  laws."  And  when 
she  was  asked  by  the  cruel  Antiochus  to  advise  her  youngest  son 
to  save  his  life,  she  only  bent  down  to  her  child  and  whispered  in  her 
own  language :  "I  beseech  thee,  my  son,  look  upon  heaven  and  earth, 
and  all  that  is  in  them:  and  consider  that  God  made  them  out  of 
nothing,  and  mankind  also:  So  thou  shalt  not  fear  this  tormentor, 
but  being  made  a  worthy  partner  with  thy  brethren,  receive  death, 
that  in  that  mercy  I  may  receive  thee  again  with  thy  brethren." 


THE  CREED. 


X     THE  ANGELS;  GOOD  AND  BAD  ANGELS; 
GUARDIAN  ANGELS. 

BY  THE  REV.  H.  G.  HUGHES. 

"Who  makest  thy  angels  spirits;  and  thy  ministers  a  flame  of  fire."— 
Ps.  ciii,  4. 

SYNOPSIS.— Point  I.  The  existence,  nature,  and  origin  of  angels,  (a) 
Their  existence.  Known  with  certainty  by  revelation;  doubtful  whether 
possession,  phenomena  of  spiritism,  occurrences  in  lives  of  saints,  would 
be  enough  by  themselves  to  prove  it  to  men  in  general.  But  we  have 
God's  word  and  the  teaching  of  the  Church.  Objections  answered,  viz.: 
That  Jews  and  then  Christians,  borrowed  the  idea  of  angels  from 
heathen  mythologies.  Scripture  proofs  from  Old  and  New  Testaments. 
The  doctrine  of  the  Church  in  the  Vatican  Council. 

(&)  Their  nature.  Spiritual— purely  spiritual.  Hence  unknown 
to  us  except  by  some  intervention  from  the  other  world.  Instances  from 
Scripture  proving  the  spirituality  of  angels.  Tobias:  The  Blessed  in  the 
Resurrection-  Doctrine  of  the  Church.  Considerations  to  help  us  to 
form  some  idea  of  a  purely  spiritual  being.  The  power  of  Intellect  and 
Will.  Energies  of  the  soul. 

(c)  Their  origin.    Created  by  God. 

Point  II.  Good  and  bad  angels.  Angels  created  to  glorify  God 
and  attain  happiness  by  serving  Him.  Some  have  failed.  Why?  They 
were  made  free,  and  have  abused  their  freedom.  Pride  the  sin  of  the 
angels.  The  lesson  for  ourselves — horror  of  mortal  sin,  and  especially 
of  pride,  which  is  the  root  of  all  sin. 

Point  HI.  The  Ministry  of  the  angels.  Guardian  angels.  Besides 
the  worship  of  God,  angels  have  care  of  man — both  of  the  Church,  of 
nations  and  of  individuals.  Guardian  angels.  Their  office  in  regard  to 
us;  our  duties  in  regard  to  them.  Advantages  of  devotion  to  our  angel 
guardian. 

The  existence,  dear  brethren,  of  innumerable  hosts  of  angels, 
of  purely  spiritual  beings,  that  is,  created,  as  we  ourselves  were 
created,  by  the  fiat  of  the  Almighty  word,  yet  more  noble  than  we 
by  nature,  and  higher  in  the  scale  of  created  things,  is  a  truth 
that  can  be  known  to  us  with  certainty  only  by  means  of  some  inter- 
position from  the  other  world,  the  world  of  spirits,  to  which  they  be- 
long. Such  interposition  may  take  the  form  either  of  a  divine 
revelation  on  the  point,  or  of  some  sensible  physical  action  exer- 
cised, with  the  divine  command  or  permission,  by  angels  themselves. 
Of  such  action,  both  by  good  and  bad  spirits,  there  is  evidence  amply 
sufficient  for  those  who  are  not  prejudiced.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
that  instances  have  occurred,  and  still  do  occur,  for  example,  of 


THE  ANGELS.  85 

possession  by  the  devil.  Some  of  the  phenomena  of  spiritism, 
which  is  attracting  in  the  present  day  the  morbid  curiosity  of 
many,  can  not  be  attributed  to  anything  but  the  malevolent  and 
mischievous  action  of  evil  spirits.  The  history  of  the  Church,  and 
the  lives  of  the  saints,  present  to  us,  on  the  other  hand,  many 
well-attached  instances  of  the  action  both  of  good  and  bad  angels. 
But  it  may  be  doubted — and  the  skepticism  in  this  matter  of 
those  who  believe  neither  in  Church  nor  Bible  would  appear  to 
bear  out  the  supposition — whether  without  the  express  teaching  of 
the  Church  and  of  God's  written  word,  such  occurrences  as  I  have 
referred  to  would  have  been  sufficient  to  prove  with  entire  certainty 
to  men  in  general  the  existence  of  purely  spiritual  beings. 

But  "we  have  a  more  sure  word  of  prophecy."  We  are  not  left 
to  the  teaching  of  experiences  which  cavilers  might  always  represent 
as  deceptive,  or  due  to  unknown  natural  causes.  God  Himself,  by  the 
word  of  the  inspired  writers,  and  through  the  mouth  of  His  Church, 
has  assured  us  of  the  fact  of  the  existence  of  angels,  good  and  evil. 

In  proposing,  then,  my  dear  brethren,  to  give  you  an  instruction 
on  the  subject  of  the  angels,  I  take  it  for  granted  that  I  am  address- 
ing an  audience  most  of  whom  are  firm  believers  in  the  authority  and 
testimony  of  the  Holy  Catholic  Church  as  the  teacher  of  God's 
truth ;  and  that  those  of  you  who  are  not  Catholics,  believe,  as  we  also 
do,  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  the  very  word  of  God  Himself.  Now 
there  is  scarcely  a  truth  more  plainly  and  more  often  written  in  the 
pages  of  the  Bible,  from  beginning  to  end,  than  that  of  the  existence 
of  angels.  Much,  moreover,  is  there  told  us  concerning  their  origin, 
their  nature,  their  present  state,  and  their  occupations ;  so  that  if  we 
believe  in  the  Bible  at  all,  we  must  believe  in  those  beings  of  another 
world. 

This  particular  teaching  of  the  Church  and  the  Holy  Scriptures  no 
more  than  any  other  has  escaped  the  attacks  of  modern  criticism. 
Unbelievers  have  endeavored  to  discredit  the  very  strong  testimony 
which  we  possess  in  the  records  of  the  Old  Testament  to  the  belief 
of  the  Jewish  people  on  this  subject,  by  representing  their  doctrine 
concerning  angels  as  having  been  borrowed  by  them  from  the  heathen 
people  among  whom  they  lived  in  captivity,  and  particularly  from 
the  Persians.  But  it  has  not  been  difficult  for  Catholic  and  Christian 
scholars  to  show  that  the  people  of  Israel  had  nothing  to  learn  from 
other  races  on  this  matter.  There  is,  it  is  true,  a  resemblance  between 
the  system  of  Persian  mythology  and  that  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  in 


86  THE  CREED. 

regard  to  angels ;  but  it  is  no  more  than  a  resemblance ;  and  inspired 
authors  of  the  Old  Testament  had  written  of  angels  long  before  their 
countrymen  came  into  connection  with  the  Persians.  A  similar 
objection  has  been  made  against  the  doctrine  of  angels  as  taught 
by  the  Christian  Church.  Christians,  it  is  declared,  borrowed 
many  of  their  ideas  on  this  subject  from  the  old  pagan  religions  of 
Greece  and  Rome.  The  only  ground  for  this  statement  is  found  in 
a  fact  not  always  sufficiently  taken  into  account,  namely  that,  not 
in  their  doctrines,  but  in  the  verbal  and  pictorial  expressions  of  their 
doctrines,  the  early  Christians  made  use  of  symbolisms  which  they 
sometimes  borrowed  from  the  more  innocent  elements  of  the  old 
religions.  Thus  an  angel  may  be  so  represented  in  an  early  Chris- 
tian painting  as  to  be  scarcely  distinguishable  from  the  figures  of 
Genii,  or  the  figures,  for  instance,  of  the  goddess  Victory.  But  a 
little  examination  will  show  that  the  resemblance  is  only  external; 
that  there  is  nothing  in  common  between  Christian  teaching  about 
angels,  and  the  fanciful,  if  not  evil,  legends  of  heathendom. 

Let  us  turn  from  such  objections  and  ask  what  Holy  Scripture 
tells  us  about  the  angels.  In  the  very  beginning  of  the  Bible  we 
read  of  the  cherubim  who  guarded  the  entrance  to  Eden  after  the 
unhappy  fall  of  our  first  parents.  You  will  remember,  too,  the 
heaven-sent  messengers  who  delivered  Lot  and  his  family  from  the 
wicked  city  of  Sodom.  The  beautiful  record  of  Jacob's  dream  has 
been  familiar  to  you  from  your  childhood ;  how  "he  saw  in  his  sleep 
a  ladder  standing  upon  the  earth,  and  the  top  thereof  reaching 
heaven;  the  angels  also  of  God  ascending  and  descending  by  it" 
(Gen.  xxviii,  12).  Prophets  in  vision  saw  the  heavenly  country,  and 
the  throne  of  God  surrounded  by  angels,  made  known  to  them,  it  is 
true,  under  various  material  forms  and  images,  but,  nevertheless,  rep- 
resenting the  truth.  And,  that  none  may  doubt  this,  that  none  may 
suppose  that  the  Old  Testament  imagery  is  nothing  else  than 
imagery,  that  there  are  no  real  spiritual  beings  who  were  represented 
to  the  prophets  of  old,  Our  Blessed  Lord  Himself  and  the  sacred 
writers  of  the  New  Testament  plainly  teach  the  existence  of  a  world 
of  spiritual  beings,  created  by  God,  of  a  higher  order  than  men. 
"See  that  you  despise  not  one  of  these  little  ones ;  for  I  say  to  you, 
that  their  angels  in  heaven  always  see  the  face  of  my  Father  who  is 
in  heaven"  (Matt,  xviii,  10).  "I  say  unto  you,  there  shall  be  joy  be- 
fore the  angels  of  God  upon  one  sinner  doing  penance"  (Luke  xv, 
10).  "He  that  shall  be  ashamed  of  me  and  of  my  words,  of  him 


THE   ANGELS.  87 

the  Son  of  Man  shall  be  ashamed,  when  he  shall  come  in  his  majesty, 
and  that  of  his  Father,  and  of  the  holy  angels"  (Luke  ix,  26).  These 
are  some  of  the  passages  in  which  Our  Lord  Himself  speaks  of  the 
angels;  nor  must  we  forget  those  terrible  words  in  which  our 
Divine  Teacher  speaks  also  of  the  devil  and  his  angels.  If  we  look 
to  the  epistles,  both  of  St.  Paul  and  the  other  New  Testament 
authors,  we  find  the  same  truth  constantly  stated.  "I  think  that  God," 
writes  St.  Paul,  "hath  set  forth  us  apostles,  the  last,  as  it  were  men 
appointed  to  death:  we  are  made  a  spectacle  to  the  world,  and  to 
angels,  and  to  men."  "Angels,  and  Powers,  and  Virtues,"  St.  Peter 
declares,  are  made  subject  to  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  in  His  glory 
(I  Pet.  iii,  22).  And  in  those  marvelous  visions  of  the  heavenly 
country  shown  to  St.  John  the  Apostle,  and  written  down  by  him  in 
the  Book  of  the  Apocalypse,  how  great  a  part  is  played  by  the 
angels ! 

The  teaching  of  the  Church  is  explicit,  as  indeed  it  must  needs  be 
concerning  a  fact  so  plainly  stated  in  God's  written  word.  "God," 
declares  the  Vatican  Council  (Sess.  Ill,  Cap.  i)  "of  his  own  free 
counsel,  in  the  beginning  of  time  created  from  nothing  .  .  . 
both  spiritual  and  corporeal  creatures,  angels,  that  is  to  say,  and  the 
world,  and  lastly  man,  composed  of  both  body  and  soul." 

(b)   The  nature  of  Angels. 

What,  then,  is  the  nature  of  these  beings.  The  Vatican  Council 
speaks  of  them  as  "spiritual,"  and  contrasts  them  with  man,  who  is 
made  up  of  matter,  as  well  as  spirit.  Everything  that  we  read  about 
the  angels  in  Holy  Scripture  makes  it  clear  that  they  are  not  as  we 
are.  Except  by  means  of  some  supernatural  intervention,  they  are 
invisible  to  the  eyes  of  the  body.  Had  they  bodily  frames  as  we 
have,  we  should  see  them  without  the  need  of  a  miracle  to  enable  us 
to  do  so.  Not  till  his  eyes  were  opened  by  the  Lord,  not  otherwise, 
that  is,  than  by  some  special  intervention,  was  Balaam  able  to  see 
the  angel  of  the  Lord.  "Forthwith  the  Lord  opened  the  eyes  of 
Balaam,  and  he  saw  the  angel  standing  in  the  way  with  a  drawn 
sword,  and  he  worshipped  him,  falling  flat'  to  the  ground"  (Num. 
xxiii,  31).  The  angel  who  appeared  to  Gedeon  disappeared  sud- 
denly from  his  sight,  by  which  fact  he  knew  that  it  was  an  angel 
who  had  been  speaking  with  him.  "The  angel  of  the  Lord  vanished 
out  of  his  sight :  And  Gedeon  seeing  that  it  was  the  angel  of  the  Lord, 
said :  Alas,  my  Lord  God :  for  I  have  seen  the  angel  of  the  Lord  face 
to  face"  (Judges  vi,  21,  22). 


88  THE  CREED. 

To  Tobias  the  angel  Raphael  declared  tfiat  he  eat  only  in  appear- 
ance, that  he  had  another,  a  spiritual,  food  and  drink.  "I  seemed, 
indeed,  to  eat  and  to  drink  with  you :  but  I  use  an  invisible  meat  and 
drink,  which  can  not  be  seen  by  man  .  .  .  and  when  he  had  said 
these  things,  he  was  taken  from  their  sight,  and  they  could  see  them 
no  more"  (Tob.  xii,  19-21).  The  blessed,  in  the  resurrection,  Our 
Blessed  Lord  has  told  us,  will  be  similar  to  the  angels  of  God,  pre- 
cisely because  they  will  be  free  from  those  trammels  which  are  as- 
sociated with  flesh  and  blood  in  our  present  condition.  "You  err," 
He  said  to  the  Sadducees,  "not  knowing  the  Scriptures,  nor  the 
power  of  God.  For  in  the  resurrection  they  shall  neither  marry  nor 
be  married,  but  shall  be  as  the  angels  of  God  in  heaven"  (Matt,  xvii, 

29,  30)- 

In  the  light  of  these  and  similar  passages  of  Holy  Scripture  and 
with  faithful  adherence  to  her  constant  tradition,  the  Church  teaches 
as  a  sure  and  certain  point  of  Catholic  doctrine  that  the  angels  are 
spirits;  that  they  have  nothing  material  about  them.  When  they 
have  appeared  to  men  it  has  been  by  taking,  for  the  time  being, 
some  visible  appearance.  It  is  not  easy,  indeed,  for  us  to  conceive 
of  a  being,  an  intelligent,  powerful,  noble  being,  under  any  form 
but  that  of  a  man.  In  other  words,  it  is  difficult  for  us  to  conceive 
what  a  spirit  is.  Nor  is  it  within  the  scope  of  this  instruction  to 
enter  into  an  explanation  of  spiritual  natures  in  general.  Yet  I  may 
suggest,  in  passing,  a  few  thoughts  that  may  help  us  to  form  some 
idea  of  the  angelic  nature.  What  is  it  that  is  most  powerful  in  man  ? 
What  is  it  in  man  that  has  produced  the  greatest  events,  exercised  the 
greatest  influence  in  the  history  of  the  world  and  of  mankind.  Has  it 
been  brute  force;  or  bodily  strength?  At  first  sight  it  might  seem 
that  at  least  in  some  periods  of  the  world's  history,  and  among  bar- 
barous peoples,  this  has  been  so.  That  it  has  been  so  at  certain 
times  and  over  a  restricted  area  of  time  and  place  I  would  not  deny. 
But  what  really  great  movement,  what  accomplishment  lasting  in  its 
effects  has  been  the  outcome  of  mere  brute  bodily  strength  ?  Behind 
such  movements  and  such  effects  we  shall  always  find  a  master 
mind ;  a  will  and  an  intelligence,  intelligence  to  know  and  foresee,  the 
will  to  accomplish  and  to  bend  other  wills  to  the  accomplishment  de- 
sired. And  to  which  part  of  our  nature  do  will  and  intelligence  be- 
long? To  our  spiritual  part.  And  if  we  reflect,  the  body  is  a  hin- 
drance rather  than  a  help.  It  has  so  many  necessities ;  it  is  so  soon 
fatigued ;  oft  and  again  "the  spirit  is  willing,  but  the  flesh  is  weak." 


THE  ANGELS.  89 

For  us,  indeed,  it  is  a  necessary  instrument  for  the  accomplishment 
of  most  of  our  purposes ;  but  one  of  which  we  should  often  like  to  be 
independent.  An  angel,  dear  brethren,  is  will  and  intelligence  un- 
hampered and  untrammeled  by  the  flesh.  How  often  our  soul  sighs 
to  be  free  from  bodily  hindrances ;  to  feel  no  longer  the  fatigue  and 
heaviness  which  oppress  the  bodily  frame.  Such  is  the  condition  of 
God's  holy  angels.  And  to  take  another  thought;  what  intense  ac- 
tivity may  be  exercised  in  the  spiritual  part  of  our  nature  while  the 
body  is  still.  What  wide  tracts  we  can  range  over  in  thought ;  what 
violent  struggles  can  take  place  in  our  inmost  souls;  what  burning 
desires,  what  joy,  what  deepest  grief,  what  serenity  and  what  deso- 
lation our  spirits  can  experience,  yet  none  know  by  any  external  act 
what  is  taking  place  within.  From  our  own  inner  experience,  then, 
by  multiplying  a  thousandfold  the  energies  of  our  souls,  we  may 
gain  some  notion  of  the  vast  activities  of  those  spirits  whom  God 
has  created,  unfettered  by  fleshly  bond,  to  be  His  court  and  to  do  His 
behests.  This,  then,  is  another  truth  taught  us  by  Holy  Scripture 
and  the  Church,  that  angels  are  purely  spiritual,  without  any  admix- 
ture of  material  and  bodily  elements. 

(c)  Their  origin. 

And  these  powerful  spirits  were  created  by  God.  This  is  a  truth 
which  we  profess  every  time  we  recite  the  words  of  the  Creed  which 
is  said  in  Holy  Mass:  "Creator  of  all  things  visible  and  invisible." 
In  those  words  we  confess  Almighty  God  to  be  the  Creator  of  all 
things  that  are;  of  the  invisible,  spiritual  world,  as  well  as  of  the 
visible  universe.  The  words  of  the  Vatican  Council,  which  I  have 
already  quoted  to  you:  "God  ...  in  the  beginning  of  time 
created  from  nothing  .  .  .  both  spiritual  and  corporeal  crea- 
tures," are  but  a  more  emphatic  and  explicit  declaration  of  the  words 
of  the  Nicene  Creed,  and  of  those  still  more  ancient  words  of  the 
Apostles'  Creed:  "I  believe  in  God  the  Father  Almighty,  Creator 
of  heaven  and  earth,"  of  heaven,  with  its  hosts  of  angels ;  of  earth, 
with  its  manifold  forms  of  life. 

To  sum  up,  then,  the  teaching  of  Church  and  Bible  so  far,  we  are 
plainly  taught  by  Holy  Scripture,  and  by  the  Church,  who  is  the 
authorized  exponent  and  interpreter  of  Scripture,  that  angels  cer- 
tainly exist,  that  they  are  entirely  spiritual  in  their  nature,  and  that 
they  come  forth,  by  creation  out  of  nothing,  from  God  the  Author 
of  all  that  is. 


go  THE  CREED. 

Point  2.    Good  and  Bad  Angels. 

The  Vatican  Council,  in  the  place  from  which  I  have  already  twice 
quoted,  tells  us  what  was  the  end  which  God  had  in  view  in  creating 
all  things.  "God,  of  His  goodness  and  by  His  almighty  power,  made 
creatures  .  .  .  not  in  order  to  increase  His  own  blessedness,  nor 
to  acquire  any  perfection  for  Himself,  but  to  manifest  forth  His  per- 
fections by  the  good  which  He  has  imparted  to  His  creation"  (Loc, 
cit.). 

In  other  words,  God  made  all  things  out  of  love;  to  make  them 
sharers  in  His  own  goodness.  Necessarily  also,  He  made  them  for 
His  own  honor  and  glory ;  for  no  more  perfect  end  could  He  have 
than  that ;  and,  being  perfect,  He  must  have  the  most  perfect  end  in 
view.  But  the  Vatican  Council  here  insists  upon  the  fact  that  God's 
honor  and  glory  involves  the  happiness  of  His  creatures.  Again, 
that  happiness  can  only  be  assured  to  them  by  their  loving  and  serv- 
ing their  good  Father  and  Creator.  It  is  the  destiny,  then,  of  all  free 
creatures  of  God  to  glorify  Him,  and  to  attain  the  happiness  He 
offers  to  them,  by  loving  Him  and  doing  His  will.  And  this  end  is  to 
be  carried  out  by  each  according  to  his  place  in  God's  creation.  The 
angels  were  created  especially  to  form  the  court  of  the  King  of 
heaven;  to  minister  to  Him  in  His  own  high  sanctuary.  This,  too, 
is  the  teaching  of  Holy  Scripture  and  the  Church. 

The  holy  Prophet  Daniel  saw  in  vision  the  Ancient  of  days.  "His 
throne  like  flames  of  fire:  the  wheels  of  it  like  a  burning  fire.  A 
swift  stream  of  fire  issued  forth  from  before  him:  thousands  of 
thousands  ministered  to  him,  and  ten  thousand  times  a  hundred 
thousand  stood  before  him."  What  a  glorious  destiny  was  that  of 
the  angels — to  be  the  immediate  attendants  of  the  heavenly  court; 
to  surround  the  very  throne  of  the  Almighty  God.  Truly  to  hold 
such  an  office  is  to  be  a  prince,  higher  and  nobler  by  far  than  any 
prince  among  men.  And  so  it  is.  The  angels  and  princes;  each 
has  his  own  glorious  throne  and  crown. 

But,  dear  brethren,  could  we  look  into  the  inmost  courts  of  the 
heavenly  country,  were  we  favored  with  the  visions  that  entranced 
the  souls  of  the  prophets  of  old,  we  should  see  that  now,  in  heaven, 
many  angelic  thrones  stand  empty,  many  glorious  crowns  have  been 
cast  down  and  trodden  in  the  dust.  What  does  this  mean?  It 
means  that  multitudes  of  the  angelic  host  have  fallen  forever  from 
their  high  estate,  and  have  been  hurled  down  with  "everlasting  fire, 
prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  angels."  Those  who  fell,  like  those 


THE  ANGELS.  91 

who  stood  firm,  were  created  for  God's  glory  and  their  own  happi- 
ness. But  God  would  have  free  and  willing  service,  and  to  this  end 
it  was  necessary  that  his  glorious  creatures,  the  angels,  should  be 
endowed  with  free-will,  with  the  mastery  over  their  own  actions,  with 
the  power  of  choice  between  God's  service  or  the  worship  and  service 
of  self.  We  can  gather  from  Holy  Scripture  that  the  sin  of  the 
angels  was  a  sin  of  immense  and  overweening  pride.  St.  Paul,  writ- 
ing to  his  disciple  Timothy,  warns  him  not  to  elevate  to  the  episco- 
pate one  who  is  a  new  convert,  "but,"  he  says,  "being  puffed  up  with 
pride,  he  fell  into  the  judgment  of  the  devil :"  into  the  judgment,  that 
is,  into  which  the  devil  himself  fell.  "Satan,"  writes  St.  Athanasius, 
"was  not  driven  from  heaven  for  a  sin  of  fornication  or  adultery  or 
robbery;  but  pride  cast  him  down  into  the  lowest  depths  of  the 
abyss."  That  the  sin  of  the  angels  was  a  sin  of  pride  is  the  com- 
mon and  universal  teaching  of  fathers  and  doctors  of  the  church. 
Of  the  details  of  that  sin ;  how  and  in  regard  to  what  in  particular  the 
angels  set  themselves  up  in  rebellion  against  the  power  of  the 
Almighty  we  do  not  know  with  certainty.  Some  great  theolo- 
gians have  put  forth  as  a  probable  conjecture  that  it  was  revealed  to 
the  angels  that  the  Eternal  Son  would  assume  to  Himself,  and  raise 
up  to  the  very  throne  of  God,  a  nature  lower  than  their  own,  and  that 
they  were  called  upon  to  worship  Him  in  that  human  nature,  where- 
upon Satan,  thinking  that  the  angelic  nature  should  have  been  thus 
honored,  refused  to  adore,  and  drew  innumerable  hosts  after  him  in 
his  sin.  But  be  that  as  it  may,  it  is  a  truth  of  faith  that  the 
angels  sinned;  it  is  the  unanimous  doctrine  of  fathers  and  doctors 
that  their  sin  was  pride;  and  it  is  a  truth  of  faith  that  they  fell 
thereby  into  the  misery  of  utter  damnation  and  eternal  banishment 
from  God  in  the  torments  of  hell.  "And  the  angels,"  writes  St. 
Jude  (Jude,  vi),  "who  kept  not  their  principality,  but  forsook  their 
own  habitation,  he  hath  reserved  under  darkness  in  everlasting 
chains."  "God,"  says  St.  Peter  (II  Pet.  ii,  4),  "spared  not  the 
angels  that  sinned,  but  delivered  them,  drawn  down  by  infernal  ropes 
to  the  lower  hell,  unto  torments,  to  be  reserved  for  torments." 

What  a  lesson,  dear  brethren,  for  us!  What  a  warning  against 
sin;  against  pride,  especially,  which,  indeed,  enters  essentially  into 
every  mortal  sin,  since  in  every  mortal  sin  the  creature  lifts  him- 
self against  his  Creator,  and  declares  "Nolo  servire — I  will  not  serve 
Thee — I  will  do  my  will,  not  Thine !" 

Alas  for  that  unhappy  fall !  They  who  were  glorious  princes  made 


9a  THE  CREED. 

themselves  devils.  From  that  time  they  have  not  ceased  to  hate  God 
and  all  His  works.  By  their  fall  they  have  not,  however,  lost  all  the 
powers  that  belong  to  angelic  nature ;  and  they  exercise  those  powers, 
as  far  as  God  permits,  for  the  destruction  and  ruin  of  man ;  anxious, 
if  they  can,  to  frustrate,  in  spite  and  envy,  the  merciful  designs  of 
God  in  regard  to  those  favored  creatures  whose  nature  He  Himself 
has  condescended  to  take.  Thanks  be  to  God  that,  though  for  our 
trial  and  probation  He  permits  them  to  tempt  us,  they  can  do  us  no 
harm  unless  we  willingly  give  ourselves  over  to  their  evil  sugges- 
tions. Armed  with  His  divine  grace,  we  can  extinguish  all  the  fiery 
darts  of  the  evil  one.  On  our  side  are  the  hosts  of  those  who  re- 
mained faithful ;  who  passed  successfully  through  the  trial  of  temp- 
tation; who  are  now  enjoying,  without  possibility  of  falling,  the 
vision  of  God  in  heaven,  and  who,  by  His  merciful  providence, 
guard  and  guide  and  assist  us  in  our  warfare  upon  earth. 

Point  3.    The  ministry  of  the  Angels.    Guardian  Angels. 

We  have  seen  what  is  the  office  of  the  angels  in  regard  to  God. 
They  are  the  attendants  of  His  heavenly  court:  they  cease  not  to 
worship  and  adore  Him  day  and  night,  saying  Holy,  Holy,  Holy, 
Lord  God  of  Hosts.  But  He  has  given  them  also  duties  in  regard  to 
us.  They  are  His  messengers ;  they  have  charge  of  the  Holy  Church ; 
of  kingdoms  and  nations,  and,  moreover,  of  individuals.  It  is  the 
teaching  of  Holy  Church  that  at  least  each  of  the  faithful  enjoys  the 
protection  and  aid  of  an  angel  guardian ;  and  it  is  not  in  any  way 
contrary  to  Holy  Scripture  to  suppose  that  every  child  of  man  is  thus 
protected.  From  the  beginning  the  Catholic  Church  has  honored  the 
holy  angels,  has  invoked  them  and  solicited  their  aid;  and  it  be- 
hooves us,  dear  brethren,  to  follow  this  example  by  being  devout  to 
our  guardian  angel.  How  consoling  is  the  thought  of  princes  of 
the  heavenly  court  charged  with  the  care  of  our  souls  and  bodies ; 
ever  at  hand  to  ward  off  temptation ;  to  repulse  the  demons,  to  sug- 
gest good  and  holy  thoughts,  to  protect  us  from  bodily  danger  and 
accidents  in  our  coming  and  going ;  to  stand  by  us  and  care  for  us 
till  at  last  they  shall  joyfully  present  our  souls,  redeemed  and  cleansed 
before  the  throne  of  God  to  receive  the  reward.  We  should  exam- 
ine ourselves  to  see  whether  we  have  neglected  and  forgotten  our 
angel  guardian.  It  is  to  our  interest  to  invoke  him ;  to  second  his 
efforts  by  our  earnest  endeavors  to  avoid  sin.  How  often  we  frus- 
trate those  endeavors  by  wilfully  running  into  temptation !  It  is  a 
matter  of  common  gratitude,  too,  that  we  should  remember  him 


THE   ANGELS.  93 

who  has  the  charge  of  us;  that  we  should  thank  him  for  his  care, 
that  we  should  try  to  live  more  in  his  presence.  It  is  needless  to 
say  that  the  greatest  spiritual  good  must  be  the  result  of  such  a 
practice.  Remembering  the  presence  of  our  guardian  angel,  we  shall 
remember  also  the  presence  of  God.  We  shall  thereby  be  supported 
in  temptation  and  restrained  from  sin ;  we  shall  be  consoled  in  afflic- 
tion and  kept  temperate  in  the  time  of  joy:  cultivating  the  friend- 
ship of  our  celestial  companion  we  shall  be  kept  from  harmful  affec- 
tion for  the  creatures  of  earth;  more  than  any  earthly  guide  and 
counsellor  he  will  teach  and  lead  us  along  the  heavenly  way,  until 
the  veil  is  taken  from  our  eyes,  and  we  shall  behold  at  the  last  the 
angel  of  the  Lord  with  whom  we  shall  praise  and  bless  the  Father  of 
us  both  forever  in  heaven. 


94  THE  CREED. 


XI.    THE  CREATION  OF  MAN. 

BY  THE  REV.  JOHN  W.  SULLIVAN. 

"God  created  man  to  his  own  image;  to  the  image  of  God  he  created 
him." — Gen.  i,  26. 

SYNOPSIS. — Material  or  physical  universe  was  created  in  five  days.  A 
special  day,  the  sixth  and  last,  was  reserved  for  the  creation  of  the  high- 
est and  noblest  being  on  this  earth — man.  His  position  is  above  the 
vegetable  and  animal  world — he  is  the  top  mark  of  God's  handiwork. 
The  material  questions  are  what  is  man  and  whence  comes  he.  They 
are  questions  of  the  utmost  importance.  There  have  been  discussions  and 
seriou.t  ones  about  his  nature  and  his  origin.  He  has  been  given  the 
loftiest  title — called  the  lord  of  creation,  son  of  God  and  the  like.  The 
belief  of  centuries  is  that  man  is  a  being  composed  of  two  elements — 
material  and  spiritual — or  body  and  soul.  At  one  time  materialism 
seemed  ready  to  do  away  with  the  spiritual  side — and  as  the  pendulum 
swings  from  one  extreme  to  the  other,  so  the  world  or  a  goodly  part 
of  it  seems  to  tend  to  the  other  extreme  of  spiritualism.  But  intel- 
lectual or  sentimental  fashions  can  not  change  the  nature  of  things. 

Faith  teaches  us  that  we  have  a  body  and  a  soul.  Scripture  insists 
upon  the  distinction  between  the  body  which  is  from  the  dust  and 
which  must  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was,  and  the  soul  or  the  spirit  that 
shall  return  to  God  who  gave  it. 

Whence  came  this  body  of  ours?  The  book  of  Genesis  is  very 
clear.  God  said,  "Let  us  make  man  to  our  image."  "And  the  Lord  God 
formed  man  of  the  slime  of  the  earth."  (Gen.  i,  26  and  ii,  /.)  The 
general  belief  of  the  Church  and  the  simplest  interpretation  of  Holy 
Writ  tend  to  the  belief  that  the  body  of  our  first  parent  was  an  im- 
mediate creation  by  God.  There  is,  however,  nothing  against  faith  in 
believing  that  the  human  body  is  a  mere  highly  developed  animal. 

Whence  this  soul?  It  is  the  immediate  work  of  God,  "and  God 
breathed  into  his  face  the  breath  of  life  and  man  became  a  living  soul." 
This  '"breath  of  life"  came  from  God  Himself.  It  is  this  that  makes  man 
the  image  and  likeness  of  God,  it  gives  him  his  spiritual  element,  raises 
htm  above  the  rest  of  creation,  it  is  his  exclusive  right. 

There  is  but  one  God  and  three  Persons,  so  one  soul  with  three 
Powers— will,  memory  and  understanding.  God  is  an  immortal  spirit, 
so  the  soul  of  man  is  spiritual  and  immortal.  Our  parents  were  created 
in  a  state  of  innocence,  the  Aesh  lusted  not  against  the  spirit— and  in 
His  own  time,  God  would  have  taken  them  to  Himself.  They  were 
dowered  with  gifts  of  body  and  grace  of  soul.  Sin  entered  in  and,  with 
sin,  death.  We,  like  them,  have  an  immortal  soul.  True  it  is  weakened 
with  the  inheritance  of  sin,  but  we  must  wage  the  life-long  combat  with 
sin,  for  our  soul  is  valued  by  the  Incarnation  and  Death  of  Christ,  by  the 
eternal  joys  of  heaven  or  the  damnation  of  hell. 

The  feeling  that  this  soul  of  ours  is  the  immediate  creation  of  God, 
should  remind  us  of  our  obligations  to  Him.  While  we  should  treat 
our  bodies  with  care— for  health  and  holiness  go  hand  in  hand— it 
should  always  be  subordinate  to  the  soul.  Our  most  precious  treasure 
u  the  spirit  within  us,  and  the  body  will  share  its  eternal  death,  or  will 


THE    CREATION    OF   MAN.  95 

be  glorified  in  the  glory  of  the  soul.  The  powers  and  faculties  and  deeds 
of  the  soul  that  excite  our  admiration  are  suggestive  of  the  knowledge, 
love  and  service  due  to  the  Being  of  Beings,  who  is  the  end  as  He  is  the 
author  of  this  body  and  this  soul. 

Five  days,  in  Scriptural  language,  were  occupied  in  creating  the 
physical  or  material  universe.  The  milky-way  lighted  with  countless 
millions  of  brilliant  stars  and  set  as  a  luminous  arch  in  the  violet 
depths  of  heaven,  the  fire  of  the  Lord  in  the  censer  of  the  sun,  moon 
and  stars  and  the  uplifting  deeps  of  the  blue  sky  were  then  created. 
No  less  beautiful  than  the  serene  firmament  that  bends  over  it,  the 
earth  with  its  beauty,  soft,  wild,  entrancing — with  its  glorious  ver- 
dure, its  autumn  splendor,  its  wilderness  of  charming  hues  and 
forms ;  and  the  ocean  bathing  its  shores,  and  bearing  the  green  isles 
like  many-colored  gems  upon  its  bosom,  came  into  being.  Then,  too, 
were  created  those  marvelous  and  numberless  forms  of  animal  life, 
the  tiny  insect  in  the  limpid  waters,  the  graceful  fawn  and  the  tawny 
lion.  But  on  the  sixth  day  God  said :  "Let  us  make  man  to  our  own 
image  and  likeness."  Then  was  created  the  noblest  and  most  beau- 
tiful of  created  beings — man.  The  world-system  is  a  pyramid  of 
which  he  is  the  top.  The  broad  earth  is  the  base,  on  it  repose  the 
many  and  beautiful  orders  of  the  vegetable  creation.  Next  rise  the 
orders  of  animal  life,  above  all  humanity,  with  its  various  compo- 
nent parts — some  lower,  some  higher — the  building  apparatus  and 
the  sentient  organs;  perception,  memory,  imagination  that  gather 
and  mold  the  stores  of  facts;  judgment  that  compares  them  and 
grasps  the  general  truths  and,  above  all,  and  ministered  to  by  all,  the 
spiritualized  soul,  the  divine  reason — that  united  intelligence  and  love 
— that  image  and  likeness  of  God  which  gathers  strength  from  all 
below  to  rise  to  all  that  is  above,  which  communes  with  heaven,  with 
eternity,  with  God. 

What  is  man  and  whence  comes  he?  These  are  questions  which 
have  engaged  the  attention  of  thousands  of  our  ancestors,  and  they 
will  continue  to  occupy  the  minds  of  those  who  will  be  here  when 
we  are  no  more.  They  are  questions  of  deepest  import  to  the  human 
race,  questions  of  interest  to  the  philosopher,  to  the  artisan,  to  us  all. 

What  is  man?  Who  is  this  son  of  God,  king  of  creation,  glory 
and  wonder  of  the  universe?  Is  he  only  a  little  organized  matter, 
endowed  with  some  movement  and  intelligence  for  a  short  time,  an 
invisible  atom  in  the  great  whirlpool  of  life,  in  the  immensity  of  the 
worlds  ?  Or  is  he  not  rather  a  composition  of  two  substances  essen- 


96  THE  CREED. 

tially  distinct  and  united  in  one  person,  the  union  of  a  body  and  a 
soul,  according  to  the  traditional  belief  of  centuries  ? 

Faith  teaches  us  that  man  is  the  personal  union  of  a  material  body 
and  of  a  spiritual,  free,  responsible,  and  consequently  immortal  soul. 
Beyond  that  body,  with  its  exquisite  beauty  of  form,  its  delicate  tex- 
ture, its  lythe  movement,  its  noble  bearing,  and  its  wonderful  mech- 
anism, all  of  which  can  be  seen  and  handled,  there  is  a  something 
which  sense  can  not  reach.  The  voice,  the  manner,  the  expression 
are  but  the  outward  manifestations  of  a  something  always  and  neces- 
sarily invisible.  The  delicately  wielded  scalpel  of  the  anatomist  can 
not  detect  it  in  the  folds  of  any  human  brain ;  the  psychologist's  ex- 
haustive analysis  of  human  thought  can  not  draw  it  into  the  light. 
Underlying  face  and  form,  speech  and  action ;  underlying  all  that  is 
most  private  and  subtle,  is  that  around  which  all  else  is  gathered 
and  without  which  all  else  would  never  have  been  or  would  cease  to 
be. 

Man  is  a  being  made  up  of  soul  and  body.  He  is  in  the  root  of  his 
being  a  person.  He  is  that  which  each  of  us  means  when  he  says : 
"I."  He  is,  or  has  within  the  outward  form  of  his  body,  a  personal 
spirit,  or,  as  Scripture  terms  it,  a  being  "made  to  the  image  and  like- 
ness of  God."  The  carefully  trained  horse  or  dog  may  carry  in- 
stinct forward  to  the  very  confines  of  reason,  but  it  is  only  a  speci- 
men of  its  kind  and  it  does  not  reflect  that  it  is  itself  which  lives,  it 
has  no  consciousness  of  a  personal  existence. 

The  soul  in  us  is  a  fact,  a  fact  as  positive  as  the  sunlight.  Each 
one  of  us  is  conscious  of  it,  in  the  thinking,  feeling,  determining  sub- 
ject we  name  self.  Moses  represents  man  as  springing  from  the  com- 
bination of  an  immediate  breathing  of  God  into  an  earthly  body 
(Gen.  ii,  7).  And  again  in  Holy  Writ,  we  find  Solomon  marking  off 
the  dust  which  must  "return  to  the  earth  as  it  was,"  from  "the 
spirit"  that  "shall  return  unto  God  who  gave  it"  (Eccles.  xii,  7) .  We 
all  recall  the  clear  distinction  made  by  Our  Lord  when  He  speaks  of 
the  "spirit"  which,  in  His  disciples,  was  "willing"  from  the  "flesh" 
that  was  weak  (Matt,  vi,  25).  St.  Paul's  burning  exhortation  to 
Christians  is  that  they  glorify  God  both  in  their  body  and  in  their 
spirits  since  both  body  and  spirit  belong  to  Him  (I  Cor.  vi,  20).  And 
does  not  St.  James  compare  faith  without  works  to  that  separation 
between  the  body  and  the  soul  which  implies  the  death  of  the  body? 
(Jas.  ii,  26).  You  are  and  I  am  a  personal  spirit  tabernacling  in  a 
bodily  form.  As  spiritual  beings,  we  are  linked  and  bound  to  the 


THE   CREATION   OF   MAN.  97 

Father  of  Spirits ;  as  spiritual  beings,  we  take  in  each  other  that  deep 
and  penetrating  interest,  that  loving  and  lasting  interest,  which 
pierces  beneath  the  outline  of  the  human  animal  and  holds  true  con- 
verse with  the  soul  within.  Man  is  a  body  as  well  as  a  soul.  Far  and 
deep  into  the  encompassing  frame  of  sense,  the  personal  spirit  strikes 
its  roots.  Soul  acts  on  body  and  body  acts  on  soul.  The  contempti- 
ble body  presses  down  the  soul,  we  are  assured  by  Holy  Scripture.  St. 
Peter  begs  us  to  "refrain  from  carnal  desires  which  war  against  the 
soul"  (I  Peter  ii,  n).  And  St.  Paul  assures  us  that  hereafter  the 
bodies  of  the  blessed  will  rise  in  glory,  in  incorruption,  in  power ;  that 
they  will  be  made  glorious  with  the  splendors  of  the  glorified  spirit 
(I  Cor.  xv,  43).  Associated  immediately  from  the  first  moment  of 
their  existence,  body  and  soul  are  parted  only  at  the  moment  of 
death — a  temporary  separation  of  companions  whose  mutual  presence 
is  needed  for  the  completion  of  each  other's  life  here  and  for  the 
eternal  felicity  of  the  hereafter. 

Whence  came  this  living,  active  tabernacle,  which  we  call  the  body  ? 
Whence  this  spiritual,  free,  responsible  spirit  within — whence  this 
soul? 

How  simple  and  clear  is  the  account  of  man's  creation  as  given  in 
the  sacred  books !  On  the  sixth  day  of  creation,  God  said :  "Let  us 
make  man  to  our  image"  (Gen.  i,  26).  "And  the  Lord  God  formed 
man  of  the  slime  of  the  earth :  and  breathed  into  his  face  the  breath  of 
life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul"  (Gen.  ii,  7).  He  formed  man  of 
the  clay,  formed  him  out  of  the  dust  into  which  he  will  return, 
formed  the  human  body  divine  out  of  the  slime  of  the  earth.  Then 
said  He :  "It  is  not  good  for  man  to  be  alone :  let  us  make  him  a  helper 
like  unto  himself."  A  deep  sleep  came  upon  Adam,  the  Lord  took 
one  of  his  ribs  and  formed  it  into  a  woman.  Such  is  the  plain 
scriptural  account  of  the  creation  of  man's  body. 

We  will  not  raise  the  question  here  of  the  theories  of  man's  descent 
as  set  forth  by  many  modern  scientists.  Various  are  the  suppositions, 
both  possible  and  imaginable.  Could  not  He,  who  by  the  simple  act 
of  His  all  holy  will  "Let  there  be"  created  all  things,  create  man 
according  to  the  body  out  of  nothing?  Could  not  He  who  brought 
the  fundamental  matter  of  all  things  and  the  human  soul  out  of  noth- 
ing likewise  produce  the  body  of  man  by  His  word  alone  ?  He  who  is 
the  guide  and  support  of  all  creation,  could,  if  He  so  chose,  use  al- 
ready existing  materials  for  the  body's  formation.  He  with  power 
omnipotent  might,  in  His  wisdom,  have  allowed  a  man-like  body  to 


98 


THE  CREED. 


develop  itself  through  a  natural  process  from  any  animal.  But  the 
nature  of  things  indicates  a  direct  creation,  and  the  voice  of  Scrip- 
ture and  tradition  seem  to  exclude  clearly  and  distinctly  any  other 
hypothesis. 

This  body  of  ours,  whether  God  created  it  immediately  or  allowed  it 
to  evolve  from  the  lower  order  of  beings,  is  but  the  temple  of  a  spir- 
itual, rational,  immortal  soul — "and  God  breathed  into  his  face  the 
breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul."  What  was  this  body, 
fresh  from  the  hands  of  the  Almighty,  but  a  lifeless  statue  ?  What 
was  it  more  than  the  lilies  of  the  field  until  the  new  element — the 
breath  of  life  was  breathed  into  it?  What  depth  of  thought  in  this 
simple  expression,  "the  breath  of  life  was  breathed  into  it !"  "Let  there 
be  light"  and  the  light  was  made  suggests  no  such  mighty  power,  no 
such  infinite  love.  And  yet  in  our  cold  and  colorless  language,  it 
means  that  the  soul  was  created  directly  by  God,  that  in  that  soul 
man  resembles  his  Creator.  He  is  God's  image  in  his  spiritual,  intel- 
ligent and  free  spirit.  This  is  his  exclusive  privilege.  This  it  is 
which  makes  him  king  of  creation,  and  the  master  of  all  nature. 
This  it  is  which  makes  him  spiritual  and  immortal.  From  the  earth, 
from  the  slime  of  the  earth,  came  the  vegetable  and  the  animal  life. 
From  God  Himself  comes  the  soul  of  man.  This  is  what  the  breath  of 
life  which  God  drew  from  His  own  mouth  to  animate  man,  signifies. 
This  image  and  likeness  of  God  springs  not  from  material  things,  it 
is  not  hidden  in  the  lower  elements  to  bloom  forth  as  the  flower  on 
its  stalk,  it  is  not  as  the  body  might  be,  the  more  highly  developed 
product  of  an  inferior  being.  It  is  the  noblest  part  of  us.  It  is  the 
breath  of  life  from  the  mouth  of  the  Almighty  Himself.  As  the 
wise  man  has  it:  "The  dust  returns  unto  the  earth  whence  it  was, 
and  the  spirit  to  God,  who  gave  it"  (Eccles.  xii,  7).  Its  value  is 
measured  by  the  stupendous  truth  of  the  Incarnation  and  the  death 
of  the  Son  of  God ;  by  the  gifts  and  graces  of  the  Holy  Spirit ;  by 
the  perpetual  intercession  of  Our  Saviour  in  heaven  where  He  offers 
His  eternal  sacrifice  to  the  Father ;  by  the  grace  and  power  of  the 
Sacraments ;  by  the  prospects  which  the  eye  of  faith  sees  beyond  the 
grave.  These  are  the  truths  which  face  the  soul  and  bring  to  it  a 
sense,  confident  yet  fearful,  of  its  own  dignity. 

As  there  is  but  one  God  and  three  Persons  in  one  God,  so  in  man 
there  is  but  one  soul,  and  in  that  soul  there  are  three  powers,  the  will, 
the  memory  and  the  understanding.  God  is  a  spirit  and  immortal, 
His  image  and  likeness  is  a  spirit  that  will  never  die.  The  Supreme 


THE   CREATION   OF   MAN.  99 

Being  is  master  of  all  things,  so  man,  endowed  with  free-will,  was 
constituted  the  visible  sovereign  over  all  the  other  creatures  of  this 
earth  (Gen.  i,  26).  We  bear  within  us  this  image  of  our  good 
God,  our  treasure  inestimable,  our  glory  and  honor,  and  too  often  are 
we  as  heedless  of  the  fact,  as  the  mountain  is  insensible  of  the  inex- 
haustible treasures  that  lie  beneath  its  surface.  Too  often  do  we 
forget  that  the  nearer  we  come  to  our  divine  Lord  the  holier  we 
become ;  the  closer  we  press  to  Him,  the  more  like  Him  we  grow ; 
the  more  we  meditate  on  Him,  the  more  conscious  shall  we  be  that 
we,  too,  are  sons  of  God.  Too  often  do  we  fail  to  recognize  the 
truth  that  eternal  realities  do  not  change  with  our  intellectual  fash- 
ions, that  we  are  from  God  and  to  Him  we  must  go,  that  we  must 
"work  out  our  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling." 

Behold  our  first  parents,  the  result  of  God's  handiwork,  clothed 
with  physical  beauty  and  perfection.  Happiness  unalloyed  was  theirs 
in  the  garden  of  Eden,  heaven  without  death  or  decay,  in  God's  own 
time,  was  to  be  their  future  reward.  Pure  and  unspotted  they  stood 
before  Him,  their  creator,  no  taint,  no  shadow  of  sin  to  sully  their 
innocence.  No  concupiscence  of  flesh  lusted  against  the  spirit,  for 
spirit  and  flesh  were  in  full  harmony  with  the  will  of  God.  To  this 
was  added  a  wonderful  knowledge  of  natural  things  and  marvelous 
illumination  of  faith,  all  in  them  tending  to  and  attracted  toward 
God  through  faith  and  hope  and  charity.  Made  beautiful  and  truly 
holy  by  the  divine  bounty  of  their  good  Father  in  heaven,  they  were 
not  dazzled  by  the  splendor  of  His  glory  as  was  Moses  on  Sinai,  for 
they  walked  with  Him  in  paradise.  Consider  this  world  when  God's 
blessing  rested  upon  its  rejoicing  dawn ;  when  man  possessed  and 
ruled  as  God's  vice-regent  this  happy,  peaceful  creation,  when  his 
mind  was  flooded  with  light,  his  reason  unclouded,  his  conscience 
the  approving  reflex  of  God's  smile.  Then  reflect  that  "sin  entered 
in  and  with  sin  death."  That  the  moral  beauty  they  possessed  was 
ruined,  that  the  light  of  their  mind  was  darkened,  their  reason 
clouded,  and  the  flesh  lusted  against  the  spirit.  Their  faculties  of 
body  and  their  gifts  of  soul  were  weakened  by  sin,  but  their  nature 
they  did  not  and  could  not  change.  They  have  left  us  with  sin  and 
its  consequences — the  present  world  with  its  toiling,  wearied,  suffer- 
ing multitudes,  its  broken  hearts,  its  hopeless  lives  and  despairing 
deaths.  They  have  left  us  to  carry  on  the  life-long  combat  with  sin, 
but  in  every  struggle  Christ  will  be  with  us,  who  never  leaves  or 
forsakes  those  who  trust  in  Him. 


100  THE  CREED. 

We  know  when  and  under  what  conditions  our  human  body  came 
into  existence.  Each  soul  is  the  immediate  work  of  the  Creator.  He 
brings  forth  each  soul  out  of  nothing,  at  the  moment  when  the  body 
which  is  destined  for  it  enters  really  and  properly  on  its  inheritance 
of  life.  Soul  and  body  are  contemporaneous  in  their  origin  and  they 
have  profound  and  ineffaceable  relations  to  each  other.  All  that  we 
are  and  have,  except  the  evil  which  we  have  wrought  and  which 
clings  to  us,  comes  from  the  one  source  of  life. 

We  see  our  body,  we  love  our  body,  we  should  do  so ;  for  it  is  the 
home  of  the  soul  and,  with  the  soul,  it  will  one  day  be  glorified.  It 
comes  from  the  earth  and  to  the  earth  will  it  return.  The  soul  is 
from  God.  To  know,  to  love  and  to  serve  Him  is  its  purpose  here 
and  to  be  happy  with  Him  forever  is  its  destiny  hereafter.  Guard 
it  then  as  a  most  precious  heritage.  See  that  you  do  not  soil  that 
heaven-born  spirit  within  you.  It  was  made  immaculate  by  the 
cleansing  and  renewing  waters  of  Baptism,  preserve  it  immaculate 
till  the  day  it  enters  on  its  reward.  Let  not  your  passions  drag  you 
down  to  the  level  of  the  brutes  beneath  you.  Let  the  belief  that  the 
inmost  being  of  each  one  of  us  is  created  immediately  by  God,  as  was 
that  of  our  first  parent  Adam,  bring  us  into  a  full  relationship  with 
God,  and  remind  us  of  our  obligations  toward  Him.  It  is  not  in  the 
anatomy  and  the  faculties  of  the  body,  but  in  the  analysis  and  struc- 
ture of  the  soul,  in  the  true  image  and  likeness  of  God,  that  the 
greatness  of  human  life  is  best  realized  and  our  indebtedness  toward 
its  Giver  most  deeply  felt.  Is  it  beauty  of  body,  earthly  splendor  or 
fortune  that  challenges  your  purest  admiration,  that  causes  the  un- 
bidden tears  to  start  from  your  eyes?  Is  it  not  rather  when  man 
stands  alone  in  the  majesty  of  virtue ;  is  it  not  when  he  suffers  for 
principle  and  sinks  with  the  last  plank  that  honor  has  left  him; 
is  it  not  when  he  wears  himself  out  in  labor  for  his  fellowmen,  when 
he  lays  down  his  life  for  his  country  ?  Is  this  the  work  of  the  body  ? 
No— it  is  the  soul.  It  is  as  when  the  beautiful  soul  illumines  the  faith 
of  St.  Stephen  with  angelic  light.  The  comforts  and  the  selfish  ease 
of  body  are  forgotten  and  the  indwelling  wisdom  and  devotion  of 
the  spirit  are  made  manifest.  What  is  it  but  the  God-like  within 
us  lifting  us  above  the  earth  and  drawing  on  toward  its  Creator. 
By  it  we  are  lifted,  elevated  to  the  knowledge  of  God ;  by  it  we  adore, 
and  love,  and  serve  Him ;  by  it,  and  it  alone,  we  shall  see  God.  This 
understanding,  this  reflective  reason,  this  heart  capable  of  a  bound- 
less expansion,  this  will,  capable  of  being  trained  to  a  freedom  and 


THE    CREATION    OF   MAN.  101 

an  intensity  of  extraordinary  power;  this  longing — nay,  I  might 
almost  say  this  capacity — for  the  infinite  which  is  within  us ;  of  what 
are  these  powers,  these  faculties  so  suggestive  as  of  the  knowledge, 
love  and  service  due  to  the  Being  of  Beings,  Who  is  the  end,  as  He  is 
the  Author  of  this  body  and  this  soul. 


J08  THE  CREED. 

XII.    THE  IMMORTALITY  OF  THE  SOUL. 

BY  THE   REV.   DR.    C.    BRUEHL. 

"The  dust  shall  return  to  the  earth  whence  it  was  taken;  and  the  spirit 
shall  return  unto  God  who  gave  it." — Ecc.  xii,  7. 

SYNOPSIS.— Man  superior  to  the  universe  because  he  knows  himself  and 
is  immortal. 

I.  The  soul  not  material;  because  it  gives  life  to  the  body.  Objections 
The  soul  not  found  in  the  dissecting-room  but  in  the  glorious  deeds  of 
men.    Antagonism  in  our  breast  proves  soul.    Faculties  of  soul:  knowl- 
edge, free  will;  neither  are  material.     Consciousness.     Therefore   our 
soul  a  spirit  and  incorruptible. 

II.  The  infinite  perfectibility  of  the  soul  requires  an  eternity.     The 
insatiable  desire  for  happiness  demands  immortality  and  God's  goodness 
guarantees  it. 

III.  The  universal  order  requires  immortality.    No  virtue,  no  order 
without   it;    life   chaos   without   it:    why    does   virtue    suffer   and   vice 
triumph?  Explained  because  immortality  compares  to  eternity.    This  life 
not  important;  its  incongruencies  vanish.     Unanimous  belief  in  immor- 
tality.   An  illustration.   Argument  summed  up.    Let  us  live  according  to 
our  belief. 

Dear  Friends :  There  is  a  sublime  passage  in  the  writings  of  Pas- 
cal. It  reads:  "When  man  contemplates  nature  in  its  glorious 
majesty,  the  thousands  of  brilliant  stars,  that  whirl  in  unlimited  space, 
that  glorious  light,  destined  to  illuminate  the  world,  as  a  mighty 
torch ;  the  oceans,  filling  the  air  with  the  bellowing  of  their  waves  ; 
that  earth,  finally,  that  seems  to  him  so  vast  and  yet  is  nothing  but  a 
dark  speck  in  the  universe;  and  when  from  this  impressive  sight 
he  turns  his  attention  to  himself,  this  first  look  is,  indeed,  calculated 
to  abash  him.  For  what  is  he  amidst  this  immensity  but  a  shadow 
that  passes.  Yet,  this  immense  world  knows  not  itself ;  man  knows 
it.  He  is  but  a  feeble  rod,  but  a  conscious  and  thinking  rod."  And 
we  may  add,  when  this  world  shall  have  passed  away,  when  the  sun 
shall  have  lost  its  luster,  when  the  stars  shall  have  grown  dim,  man 
will  be.  He  will  survive  the  universal  wreck.  On  the  ruins  of  the 
universe  he  will  stand,  undaunted,  strong,  youthful,  as  Scipio  on 
the  ashes  of  Carthage.  For  man  is  immortal;  he  is  not  a  shadow 
that  passes,  and  the  vestiges  of  which  shall  not  be  found ;  he  is  not 
a  flower,  that  fades  away  and  is  seen  no  more ;  he  is  not  as  the  grass, 
that  withers  and  is  borne  away  by  the  winds.  His  is  a  privilege,  not 


IMMORTALITY   OF   THE   SOUL.  103 

found  elsewhere  on  earth,  but  only  shared  by  the  spirits  of  heaven,  a 
participation  of  the  eternity  of  God  himself.  In  his  breast  is  en- 
shrined, as  the  pearl  in  the  bosom  of  the  sea,  that  enduring  spark  of 
life,  called  soul,  which  thinks  and  wills  and  possesses  itself  and  can 
not  die  nor  be  destroyed. 

This  doctrine,  the  cornerstone  of  religion  and  morality,  has  been 
fiercely  assailed  by  many;  not  because  it  is  not  well  proved  and 
authenticated  by  reason  and  faith,  but  because  its  opponents  wish  to 
shirk  the  awful  responsibilities  it  entails.  And  reason  is  never  more 
eager  to  seek  arguments  and  beget  doubts  than  when  it  works 
in  the  service  of  a  corrupt  heart.  It  is  our  duty  to  place  the 
doctrine  of  immortality  on  a  firm  and  impregnable  basis,  that  it  may 
be  able  to  resist  the  assaults  of  unbelief  and  passion.  The  arguments 
for  the  immortality  of  the  soul  are  drawn  from  the  nature  of  the 
soul,  the  perfections  of  God,  and  the  universal  order. 

I.  The  soul  is  not  material.  It  is  the  animating  principle  in  man. 
It  gives  life,  vigor,  its  very  being  and  identity  to  the  body.  It  be- 
stows upon  the  body  beauty,  alertness,  harmony,  activity.  The  soul 
quickeneth  the  flesh.  And  when  it  departs  the  body  becomes  a 
ruin;  a  helpless  hull,  without  helm  and  rudder,  falling  speedily  to 
pieces.  The  eye  grows  dull,  that  wonderful  quality  of  the  human 
face,  which  we  style  expression,  at  once  vanishes.  A  leaden  pallor 
creeps  over  the  brow  and  the  face  is  distorted.  Yea ;  an  ungainly 
sight  this  body  without  a  soul,  this  moldering  flesh,  this  dust  with- 
out its  vivifying  principle.  And  we  spread  a  pall  over  it  and  con- 
ceal it  in  a  grave,  to  await  its  reunion  with  the  soul. 

But  no  anatomist  has  ever  found  a  soul  by  the  use  of  his  scalpel ! 
Aye,  this  is  true ;  but  he  would  have  found  it,  had  he  used  his  under- 
standing and  had  he  not  blinded  himself  to  the  astounding  phe- 
nomena he  witnesses  in  the  living  organism.  Seek  not  the  soul  in 
the  blood-smeared  room  of  the  anatomist;  behold  it  in  the  glowing 
countenance  of  the  artist,  when  inspirations  are  crowding  his  mind ; 
behold  it  in  the  kind  face  of  the  mother,  when  she  sacrifices  herself 
for  her  child;  behold  it,  whenever  you  see  a  man  perform  some 
noble,  some  generous,  some  heroic  deed.  Then  the  whole  being 
beams  with  soulfulness,  and  the  very  body  becomes,  as  it  were, 
translucent  with  the  light  of  higher  aspirations.  Nay,  ask  not  the 
anatomist  to  show  you  the  soul ;  but  open  your  eyes  and  see  and  feel 
it  in  every  good  and  unselfish  action.  Does  not  the  soul  daily  in 
noble-minded  men  and  women  sacrifice  the  body,  scorn  its  con- 


io4  THE  CREED. 

veniences,  trample  on  its  peevish  desires  ?  How  could  it,  were  it  not 
infinitely  superior  to  this  slothful,  comfort-seeking  mass  of  inert 
matter?  No,  there  is  something  superior  to  the  flesh  in  man,  that 
sometimes  hates  the  flesh,  goads  and  lashes  it,  as  a  daring  knight 
spurs  his  timid  steed.  You  behold  the  soul,  you  behold  it  daily  in 
the  very  antagonism  that  exists  in  our  breast  in  the  conflict  be- 
tween duty  and  pleasure;  in  the  struggle  and  resistance  of  our 
weaker  nature  against  our  higher  purposes.  Thus  the  Bible  speaks 
of  man's  soul.  God  formed  a  body  of  the  slime  of  the  earth.  There 
it  lay;  beautiful,  yet  withal  wanting  something;  no  warmth,  no 
motion  was  in  it;  no  pulse  was  throbbing;  no  glow  of  animation 
softened  those  rigid  features.  Then  God  breathed  into  its  face  the 
breath  of  life,  and  man  became  a  living  soul.  And  forthwith  this 
wonderful  change.  Adam,  the  man  of  the  earth,  leaps  to  his  feet, 
his  nostrils  dilate  to  draw  in  for  the  first  time  the  fragrant  air  of 
paradise,  he  extends  his  arm  in  which  he  feels  the  thrilling  sensation 
of  strength,  his  eyes  are  lit  up  by  the  spark  of  intelligence,  his  brow 
beams  with  expression,  the  silvery  tide  of  speech  ripples  from  his 
lips,  every  fiber  quivers  with  life,  the  blood  rushes  triumphantly  in 
his  veins,  a  jubilant  sound  of  thanks  rings  forth  from  his  heaving 
breast.  He  lives  now,  because  the  soul  has  animated  that  mold 
of  dust.  Therefore  the  soul  possesses  life  in  an  abundant  de- 
gree, because  it  is  life  giving.  And  mark  well,  God  formed  not  the 
soul  from  earth ;  but  He  breathed  it  from  His  own  mouth ;  He  kindled 
the  flame  of  life  in  the  breast  of  man  by  infusing  into  it  a  spark 
from  His  own  bosom. 

But  we  proceed  in  determining  the  nature  of  the  soul.  It  is  not 
matter ;  this  we  have  gleaned  from  the  fact  that  it  is  the  source  of  life 
in  man ;  it  is  a  spirit ;  this  we  will  prove  from  its  intellectual  powers. 
A  spirit  is  a  simple,  indivisible  being  not  fettered  by  quantity,  not 
subject  to  the  laws  of  gravitation  and  space.  It  can  not  be  reached 
by  material  agents;  it  eludes  the  rude  grasp  of  the  hand.  It  is 
the  subtlest,  most  refined,  most  perfect  and  most  independent  form 
of  being.  God  is  a  spirit ;  the  angels  are  spirits ;  our  soul  is  a  spirit. 

The  soul  thinks  and  knows.  It  has  a  world  of  its  own,  where  it  is 
not  dependent  on  the  organs  of  the  body.  This  world  of  thought 
the  soul  constructs  and  creates  entirely  by  itself;  the  organs  only 
furnish  the  materials.  And  I  say,  thought  is  not  akin  to  any  ma- 
terial energy  or  activity.  It  is  not  motion.  For  it  resides  tranquilly 
in  the  soul,  though  it  soar  to  the  loftiest  heights  of  the  heavens  or 


IMMORTALITY   OF   THE   SOUL.  .      105 

fathom  the  darkest  abysses  of  earth.  It  needs  not  space;  for  the 
entire  universe  has  room  in  our  soul;  worlds  may  be  embraced  in 
one  idea.  It  needs  not  time;  for  we  review  the  past  and  scan  the 
future  and  at  the  same  moment  are  conscious  of  the  fleeting  hour. 

Moreover  we  have  ideas  of  truth,  immortality,  good  and  bad,  of 
soul  and  spirit,  of  eternity,  of  God.  None  of  these  could  impress  a 
material  organ ;  for  they  are  completely  remote  from  sense ;  they  are 
invisible,  intangible,  inaudible.  They  never  entered  into  our  ear 
nor  eye,  nor  ever  been  felt  by  our  touch.  Yet  they  live  and  are  in 
our  soul.  And  if  our  soul  grasps  spiritual  things,  it  must  be  a  spirit 
itself. 

There  remains  this  most  intimate  fact  of  our  life.  I  mean  con- 
sciousness. The  soul  knows  itself,  everything  is  light  in  our  soul; 
it  is  transparent,  not  to  a  strange  eye,  but  to  our  own. 

We  are  in  our  actions ;  they  are  our  very  own ;  we  see  them  at  their 
source;  we  possess  and  rule,  because  we  know  them;  we  possess 
ourselves;  for  we  know  ourselves.  Behold  the  stars  of  the  sky; 
they  do  not  belong  to  themselves ;  their  movements  are  not  their  own ; 
they  do  not  know  where  they  will  be  the  next  moment;  blindly, 
helplessly,  pushed  by  a  foreign  power,  they  whirl  through  space.  Be- 
hold the  animal,  it  has  some  dull  knowledge ;  but  this  is  bound  up  in 
its  present  needs ;  it  reflects  not ;  it  is  ruled  by  instinct  and  impres- 
sions ;  It  obeys  the  promptings  of  the  moment ;  it  practices  no  self- 
control;  it  possesses  not  itself;  for  it  is  not  conscious.  Conscious- 
ness we  only  find  in  man;  because  his  soul  is  spiritual.  And  only 
what  is  without  parts  can  be  selfconscious.  If  there  were  parts  in 
our  soul,  these  would  be  opaque  and  dark  as  night  one  to  the  other ; 
they  would  be  separated  by  an  insurmountable  wall.  Because  our 
soul  is  indivisible,  without  parts,  we  can  be  conscious,  that  is,  be 
present,  assist  at  everything  that  is  and  happens  in  us. 

We  will.  Our  soul  is  free.  Nothing  in  the  visible  world  is  free 
but  our  soul.  Everything  has  a  prescribed  and  well-defined  course 
of  activities,  from  which  it  never  departs.  The  laws  of  nature  are 
unchangeable.  Our  soul  is  not  subject  to  uniform  laws.  It  deter- 
mines itself;  it  weighs  its  actions  and  supremely  defines  what  it 
will  do.  There  are  moments  when  we  defy  the  universe,  resist  all 
the  solicitations  of  pleasure ;  when  we  stand  at  the  rudder,  steering 
the  course  of  our  actions  in  opposition  to  all  the  currents  of  outward 
influences.  No  force,  no  earthly  power  can  overcome  our  will  or 
call  from  it  a  response.  Not  even  that  subtlest  of  all  forces,  the 


I06  THE  CREED. 

acute,  penetrating  action  of  fire  can  influence  the  soul.  Witness 
the  martyr;  fearless  he  goes  through  the  flames,  his  will  remains 
intact,  inflexible,  free.  A  universe  can  not  move  or  crush  our  will ; 
and  no  universe  can  destroy  it. 

Our  soul  is  a  spirit.  It  has  an  activity  of  its  own,  in  which  the 
body  does  not  partake.  Therefore  it  has  a  being,  an  existence  of  its 
own,  which  does  not  share  the  destiny  of  the  body.  The  soul  can  act 
without  the  body ;  it  can  be  and  live  without  it.  Whatever  destroys 
the  life  of  the  body,  does  not  destroy  the  soul ;  for  they  are  not  one, 
but  separable.  And  when  that  great  catastrophe  comes,  which  in- 
volves the  body  in  ruin  and  death,  the  soul,  having  its  own  life,  is 
not  implicated  in  this  ruin,  but  survives.  The  death  of  the  body 
does  not  reach  the  soul.  When  the  body  decays  the  soul  retrenches 
itself  into  its  inner  world,  into  itself.  Nor  will  it  die  when  once 
separated  from  the  body ;  for,  being  simple,  it  can  not  be  dissolved. 
We  have  no  instance  of  annihilation  in  the  world ;  death  is  not  anni- 
hilation ;  but  dissolution  of  the  whole  into  its  parts.  And  since  the 
soul  has  no  parts,  it  can  not  be  dissolved ;  it  can  not  be  rent  asunder ; 
it  can  not  be  decomposed ;  it  can  not  die.  And  therefore  we  sum  up 
our  first  point  in  the  words  of  Holy  Scripture :  "God  made  man  in- 
corruptible" (Wisd.  ii,  23). 

II.  Our  soul  is  by  its  very  nature  incorruptible,  resisting  all  de- 
structive agencies  of  the  world.  We  may  now  make  the  absurd 
supposition,  that  God  annihilates  the  soul  after  it  has  been  separated 
from  the  body,  that  His  finger  extinguishes  the  spark  He  has  kindled 
in  the  breast  of  man.  We  rightly  call  this  an  absurd  supposition; 
for  why  should  God  create  a  being,  naturally  immortal,  only  to  de- 
stroy it  after  a  short  time?  Nay,  if  God  creates  a  being  immortal, 
He  means  not  to  cut  short  its  existence.  And  we  claim  that  such  an 
act  on  the  part  of  God  would  contradict  His  wisdom  and  His  good- 
ness. 

That  soul  of  ours  is  an  admirable  being.  Its  capacities  can  not 
be  exhausted,  its  knowledge  daily  grows  larger  and  wider.  Where 
are  the  limits  of  this  development  ?  We  are  conscious  that  our  mind 
is  capable  of  knowing  everything,  that  there  is  not  a  truth  which  it 
will  not  be  able  to  grasp.  And  after  a  long,  laborious  life  of  study, 
having  stored  in  our  memory  the  precious  legacy  of  past  ages, 
having  perused  volumes  containing  all  that  men  know,  we  find 
that  we  are  capable  of  learning  more ;  that  we  are  not  surfeited  with 
truth.  Our  corporeal  eye  becomes  dull  and  finally  is  blinded  by  gaz- 


IMMORTALITY   OF   THE   SOUL  107 

ing  fixedly  at  the  brightness  of  the  sun ;  however  intently  our  mental 
eye  may  gaze  at  truth,  it  ever  sees  clearer  and  better,  and  discovers 
that  it  has  not  yet  satisfied  its  desire  for  knowledge.  We  continually 
long  for  greater  knowledge  and  clearer  insight  into  things  and  their 
causes.  Yet,  how  few  are  there  here  whose  spiritual  faculties  have 
been  developed  to  any  considerable  degree.  Will  this  glorious  capa- 
city for  truth  die  with  us,  will  this  mind  capable  of  the  highest 
perfectibility  be  suddenly  checked  in  its  evolution,  will  it  pass  into 
darkness,  incomplete,  unfinished,  with  the  immense  regret  of  not 
having  attained  what  it  could  reach  ?  No ;  God  is  wise ;  and  when 
He  gives  man  a  faculty  for  immensity,  He  will  satisfy  it  by  an 
immensity.  Eternity  and  immensity  are  the  proper  atmosphere  for 
the  soul;  there  it  may  stretch  its  wings  and  soar  to  undiscovered 
heights ;  there  it  will  quench  its  thirst  for  everincreasing  knowledge. 
Why  should  God  have  made  that  soul  so  great,  so  infinite,  if 
it  were  only  to  attain  to  such  a  low  degree  of  perfection,  as  men, 
even  the  best,  reach  on  earth.  No;  there  is  awaiting  us  in  another 
life  that  perfection  we  desire  here,  but  can  not  attain;  for  God  is 
wise  and  He  will  not  allow  the  work  of  His  hand  to  remain  mutilated 
and  crippled.  Everything  on  earth  grows,  matures,  and  declines; 
not  so  our  soul;  it  grows,  but  never  reaches  its  maturity;  even  to 
the  last  breath  it  grows.  Even  on  his  deathbed  man  is  not  ripened, 
not  complete ;  his  maturity  awaits  him  in  another  world ;  for  God's 
wisdom  can  not  allow  this  splendid  germ  to  perish  and  to  remain 
maimed  and  incomplete. 

In  our  better  moments,  when  all  that  is  noble  and  pure  in  us 
comes  to  the  front,  when  by  some  extraordinary  victory  over  the 
lower  self  we  have  honored  our  manhood,  we  wish  to  be  immortal, 
we  wish  to  see  the  good  in  us  grow  and  increase,  we  wish  to  see 
the  bad  wear  away  and  our  souls  pure,  splendid,  without  alloy,  with- 
out dross,  without  even  the  slightest  suggestion  of  baseness,  without 
the  shadow  of  sin.  Shall  the  struggle  never  cease,  shall  the  evil 
triumph?  No;  a  voice  tells  us  the  good  will  conquer,  it  will  grow 
to  a  glorious  maturity ;  it  will  reign  in  calm  and  peace  forever.  Now 
we  struggle  to  be  good ;  then  we  will  be  good,  noble,  generous,  pure 
without  further  combat ;  as  a  reward  for  our  faithfulness.  The  good 
in  us  will  not  die,  will  not  be  baffled ;  but  it  will  come  to  perfection ; 
not  here,  indeed,  but  in  eternity,  where  the  seed  of  sanctity  and  per- 
fection sown  in  time  will  grow  by  the  light  of  the  sun  of  justice. 

There  is  nothing  more  characteristic  of  man,  than  his  restlessness. 


io8  THE  CREED. 

He  is  never  perfectly  at  ease,  never  completely  content ;  ever  he  seeks 
something  beyond  that  which  he  already  holds.  There  is  something 
in  man  that  is  never  satisfied ;  a  gap  remaining  forever  in  his  heart, 
an  abyss  that  nothing  can  fill.  It  is  the  desire  for  happiness,  the 
longing  for  something,  that  will  satisfy  his  soul.  The  proper  lan- 
guage of  man  is  the  sigh.  At  times  this  sigh  swells  to  a  wild  groan, 
when  the  void  in  man's  heart  becomes  pungent,  when  he  feels  keenly 
that  despite  all  earthly  pleasures  his  soul  remains  barren,  empty, 
naked  and  hungry.  And  all  men  feel  this  discontentment  with 
earthly  things  some  time  in  their  life,  even  the  most  sordid  and  base. 
It  is  born  with  us.  It  is  the  natural  consequence  of  the  greatness  of 
our  soul.  God  has  implanted  it  in  our  breast.  Has  He  done  so,  merely 
to  torment  poor  mortals?  Is  it  an  incurable  disease?  A  feverish 
thirst,  that  nothing  can  slake?  We  can  not  entertain  this  thought 
even  for  a  moment.  God's  goodness  forbids  it.  Every  natural  ap- 
petite has  a  corresponding  object.  The  beast  of  the  field  finds  what 
it  seeks  and  rests.  Man  seeks  and  finds  not.  Aye,  it  is  true  he  finds 
not  what  he  seeks  in  the  dust  of  the  road,  he  finds  it  not  during  this 
earthly  life ;  but  let  him  raise  his  eyes  to  the  sky  and  to  that  which  is 
beyond  the  sky.  There  is  also  an  object  for  his  insatiable  desire  of 
happiness ;  God's  goodness  demands  it.  And  since  this  object  is  not 
found  and  seen  in  this  life,  it  exists  in  the  next  life.  Our  soul  is  not 
destined  to  be  glutted  in  a  short  period  of  time,  it  will  forever  drink 
from  the  fountain  of  bliss  in  eternity.  Our  soul  is  immortal ;  there- 
fore God  does  not  satisfy  its  hunger  in  time,  but  He  has  spread  for 
it  the  royal  banquet  of  immortality.  And  man  makes  little  of  time ; 
he  forgets  the  present,  he  always  looks  forward;  he  thinks  not  of 
this  life;  he  is  preoccupied  with  eternity.  He  measures  everything 
by  eternity.  Yes,  man  feels  it ;  he  is  immortal,  he  will  be  eternal,  and 
everything  else  is  shortlived.  Therefore  he  seeks  not,  expects  not 
happiness  on  earth.  Beyond  the  stars  it  awaits  him:  Happiness, 
bliss  and  a  glorious  immortality. 

"Whatever  crazy  sorrow  saith, 

No  life  that  breathes  with  human  breath 
Has  ever  truly  longed  for  death; 

O  life,  not  death,  for  which  we  pant, 
More  life  and  fuller  that  I  want." 

— "The  Two  Voices"  Tennyson. 

Thus  God's  goodness  is  the  guarantee  of  our  immortality.     It 
can  not  be  that  God  lashes  and  goads  us  by  this  wild  desire  for  hap- 


IMMORTALITY    OF    THE    SOUL.  109 

piness,  only  to  drive  us  from  place  to  place,  until  we  sink  down 
weary,  exhausted,  with  bleeding  heart  and  parched  lips.  He  has 
given  us  this  unquenchable  thirst,  that  we  may  not  dwell  at  the  cis- 
terns of  earthly  pleasure,  but  go  onward  in  quest  of  the  everlasting 
fountain  of  heavenly  bliss.  We  are  immortal,  hence  there  is  a 
desire  for  unlimited  happiness  in  our  soul,  which  can  not  be  satisfied 
on  earth ;  we  are  immortal,  hence  earthly  pleasures  more  disgust 
and  surfeit  than  gratify  us;  we  are  immortal,  hence  we  wish  what 
is  not  on  earth  and  what  time  can  not  give  us;  we  are  immortal, 
hence  God  will  not  scourge  us  with  an  aimless  desire  nor  lure  us  to 
a  barren  desert  of  despair  by  the  mirage  of  a  happiness  which  we 
are  never  to  possess. 

III.  Without  the  immortality  of  the  soul  human  life  would  be  a 
puzzle,  nay  more,  the  wild  discoherent  dream  of  a  maniac.  Whereas 
we  discover  an  admirable  order  and  harmony  in  the  material  uni- 
verse, there  is  chaos,  jarring  discord  in  the  moral  world.  In  the 
former  everything  is  well  balanced  according  to  measure  and  weight ; 
in  the  latter  everything  runs  riot.  The  sinner  outwits  the  honest; 
justice  is  persecuted;  the  good  designs  of  the  pious  are  thwarted, 
not  only  by  wicked  men,  but  by  adverse  circumstances,  as  if  heaven 
had  foresworn  their  cause;  innocence  is  hunted  down,  captured, 
slandered  and  starved  into  submission  by  knaves;  virtue  is  barely 
permitted  to  exist ;  it  is  scorned  and  ekes  out  a  wretched,  ignominious 
existence.  Righteousness  succumbs,  vice  triumphs;  the  pious  shed 
bitter  tears  and  the  wicked  smile  in  the  broad  light  of  day.  This 
man,  though  he  works  and  toils  day  after  day,  struggles  in  vain 
against  poverty  and  sees  the  pinched  faces  of  his  little  ones  wane. 
Next  door,  however,  lives  a  prosperous  scoundrel  enjoying  splen- 
did health,  commanding  the  esteem  of  his  fellowmen  and  gorging 
himself  with  ill-gotten  goods.  Here  is  the  debauched,  whose  health 
does  not  fail  despite  his  revelries ;  there  lives  a  sober,  temperate  man, 
who  drags  through  life  a  diseased  body. 

Why?  Why  is  this?  Who  can  explain  this  horrible  chaos?  In- 
deed, we  must  say,  if  there  is  no  immortality,  there  is  nothing  to 
relieve  this  fearful  disorder.  Life  is  a  nightmare,  a  disgusting 
dream,  a  monstrous,  chilling  vagary  of  a  maniac's  fancy.  But  no, 
there  is  an  immortality  to  balance  and  straighten  the  disharmonies 
of  this  life.  This  life  is  not  the  real  life ;  it  is  but  the  prelude,  the 
discords  of.  which  will  be  solved  in  a  beautiful  harmony  of  an  after 
life.  Upon  this  huge  background  of  an  immortality  the  disorders  in 


1IO  THE  CREED. 

life  become  imperceptible;  for  the  long  years  of  suffering  of  the 
just  are  but  moments  compared  to  their  eternity  of  immortal  bliss; 
and  the  prosperous  lives  of  the  wicked  dwindle  into  insignificance 
before  their  eternity  of  punishment.  Immortality  is  the  key  to  the 
riddle  of  life ;  it  explains  everything ;  throws  light  on  all  its  problems. 
And  therefore  let  me  ask  who  is  it  that  doubts  or  pretends  to  doubt 
the  immortality  of  the  soul?  They  who  fear  this  immortality,  who 
dread  the  after  life,  because  they  have  degraded  their  nature,  because 
they  have  outraged  their  immortal  soul,  because  they  have  sown 
wrath  and  fear  to  harvest  perdition.  But  for  the  good,  this  thought 
is  consoling,  strengthening ;  it  uplifts  their  hearts,  inspires  them  with 
patience,  nay  even  joy  in  all  their  calamities.  They  have  a  foretaste 
of  their  immortality,  which  sweetens  and  alleviates  their  earthly 
pains. 

A  man  who  had  lost  his  faith  saw  a  Sister  of  Mercy.  She  was 
young  and  beautiful  and  had  forsaken  a  wealthy  and  comfortable 
home.  Touched  at  this  spectacle  the  unbeliever  asked  her:  "Dear 
Sister,  would  you  not  be  cruelly  deceived  if  there  were  no  life  here- 
after?" The  sister  replied,  and  there  was  a  reflection  of  heaven  on 
her  face:  "I  do  not  understand  what  you  mean ;  I  possess  and  enjoy 
this  coming  happiness  already  in  this  life."  Truly,  it  lies  at  the 
bottom  of  our  hearts,  this  hope  or  fear  of  immortality ;  the  consoling 
or  dreadful  certainty  of  an  after  life. 

Not  only  would  life  be  a  puzzle  without  immortality ;  but  it  would 
be  impossible.  Could  there  be  any  morality  without  immortality  ?  If 
the  soul  is  not  immortal,  virtue  is  a  meaningless  sound;  piety  is 
ridiculous;  fear  of  God  is  nonsense.  Indeed  if  the  soul  lives  not 
after  death,  we  have  reason  to  fear  men  more  than  God.  And 
if  the  fear  of  God,  the  hope  of  eternal  reward,  the  fear  of  an  ever- 
lasting punishment  are  plucked  from  our  heart,  who  will  conserve 
order  in  society,  who  will  protect  our  property,  who  will  shield 
our  life,  who  guarantee  the  truth  of  our  vows  and  promises  ?  Right 
and  law  can  not  restrain  my  personal  liberty.  The  sacred  ties  of 
matrimony  will  be  dishonored,  snapped;  the  cradle  will  be  de- 
serted, the  infant's  life  will  not  be  safe  in  the  womb  of  its  mother,  the 
family  hearth  will  be  overturned;  lawlessness  will  reign;  brutal 
force  will  be  our  only  protection.  The  unscrupulous  man  will  de- 
ceive, abuse  his  fellowmen  and  when  earthly  justice  finally  reaches 
him,  he  will  escape  all  punishment  by  laying  hand  on  himself.  With- 
out immortality  the  sick,  the  poor  will  be  without  comfort,  wicked- 


IMMORTALITY   OF   THE   SOUL.  m 

ness  without  a  curb,  virtue  without  encouragement,  society  without 
protection,  a  prey  to  revolution  and  anarchy.  It  will  be  wisdom 
to  cast  your  lot  with  the  sinners,  for  they  have  the  promise  of 
this  life.  This  is  indeed  a  dark  picture;  but  true  and  consistent. 
Life  and  society  will  be  impossible  without  immortality.  Voltaire, 
the  most  frivolous  mocker  of  everything  holy,  had  many  a  glimpse 
of  the  truth.  One  night  his  friends  visiting  him  railed  at  reli- 
gion, especially  at  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  when  he  inter- 
rupted their  discourse  saying:  "Friends,  restrain  your  tongues, 
lest  my  servants  hear  you.  I  do  not  wish  to  be  dispatched  this  night." 
Do  not  object,  that  there  are  unbelievers  leading  good  lives  and  not 
guilty  of  the  disorders  I  mentioned.  This  is  true;  but  the  great 
majority  of  men  believe  in  immortality  and  they  have  created  an 
order  which  the  few  dare  not  violate.  And  besides,  the  whole 
atmosphere  is  impregnated  with  religious  ideas  and  even  the  few  un- 
believers vaguely  dread  and  believe  an  immortality  of  the  soul.  But 
make  the  disbelief  of  immortality  universal,  then  the  masses  will  rise, 
the  foundation  of  society  will  rock,  the  moral  world  crumble,  life 
will  be  impossible.  For  then  the  good,  the  righteous,  the  honest, 
the  virtuous,  the  unselfish,  the  self  sacrificing,  those  who  are  the 
strength  of  society,  will  lose  everything  by  death,  and  the  wicked,  the 
dishonest,  the  criminal  will  gain  everything. 

But  let  us  draw  a  veil  over  this  horrible  picture  of  terror,  into 
which  humanity  would  be  led  without  the  belief  in  immortality. 

Follow  me.  Here  is  a  son,  a  good  and  dutiful  boy,  kneeling  at 
the  deathbed  of  his  mother.  Her  life  is  fast  ebbing  away ;  he  watches 
the  lovelight  fade  in  her  eyes.  He  rises  and  bends  over  her  face. 
For  the  last  time  she  gives  him  a  kind  and  loving  look  and  then  a 
sigh ;  she  has  passed  away.  My  dear  friends,  tell  that  boy :  "Your 
mother  is  no  more;  all  that  remains  is  but  this  lifeless  form;  her 
soul  was  but  vapor ;  it  has  vanished."  And  then  for  a  moment  he 
will  forget  his  loss,  a  fierce  anger  at  your  frivolity  will  boil  in  his 
heart  and  he  will  shout  at  you:  "She  lives.  She  loves.  She  will 
forever  live  and  love.  That  glorious  wealth  of  love  in  her  soul  will 
never  die.  And  I  know,  those  kind  eyes  will  once  more  beam  on  me 
again  and  her  soul  will  hover  around  her  boy."  That  is  the  instinct 
of  nature.  And  that  instinct  is  true. 

And  men  have  been  firm  and  unanimous  in  their  belief  of  an  im- 
mortality. They  have  honored  the  dust  of  the  dead  and  surrounded 
the  tomb  with  symbols  of  resurrection.  And  whence  should  they 


112 


THE  CREED. 


have  this  idea  and  how  could  they  have  clung  to  it,  were  it  not 
strongly  confirmed  in  their  consciousness.  Everything  in  this  world 
belies  the  idea  of  immortality ;  everything  passes.  And  man  stand- 
ing amid  graves,  standing  in  one  great  mausoleum  of  which  the  sky 
is  the  somber  vault,  dreams  of  immortality.  Though  everything 
outside  of  him  is  perishable,  when  he  enters  into  his  soul,  he  finds 
himself  confronted  by  the  clear  vision  of  immortality. 

The  immortality  of  the  soul  is  thus  abundantly  proved.  We  have 
already  named  those  that  deny  it.  They  are  the  same  that  deny  the 
existence  of  God,  the  same  that  deny  the  value  of  virtue  and  holi- 
ness, the  same  that  wish  to  degrade  man  to  the  level  of  the  beast  of 
the  field,  the  same  that  grovel  in  the  dust  and  delight  in  their  base- 
ness. They  are  the  enemies  of  humanity,  that  rob  it  of  its  glorious 
hopes  of  immortality.  Where  will  we  find  the  inspiration  for  noble 
deeds,  the  courage  for  the  heroism  of  self  sacrifice,  the  strength  to 
resist  the  many  temptations  of  this  life,  if  we  await  not  a  crown  of 
immortality.  Yea,  our  soul  is  immortal;  or  everything  is  involved 
in  darkness :  our  nature  lies,  our  better  self  lies,  God  belies  His  per- 
fections, all  humanity  lies,  society  thrives  by  a  lie  and  could  not 
exist  by  the  truth,  the  best  men  are  the  greatest  fools  and  the 
wicked  the  only  wise.  Our  souls  are  immortal ;  and  this  truth 
shows  life  in  another,  conciliatory  light.  Our  short  existence  is  a 
bridge  of  sighs  stretching  over  a  broad,  deep  river  of  misery;  but 
it  leads  not  into  the  dark  gloom  of  annihilation,  but  into  the  bright, 
blissful  realms  of  immortality.  Let  us  so  live,  that  we  may  never  need 
to  fear  immortality  and  eternity.  Let  us  judge  things  by  this  truth, 
measure  the  value  of  things  according  to  this  standard ;  let  us  not 
prize  what  doth  not  last;  let  us  not  seek  what  passeth  away.  Let 
us  not  flatter  and  foster  unduly  this  body;  but  let  us  take  care  of 
our  soul;  for  "the  body  shall  return  to  the  earth,  whence  it  was 
taken ;  and  the  spirit  shall  return  unto  God  who  gave  it."  Amen. 


THE  SECOND  PERSON:   TRUE  GOD.  113 

XIII.    THE  SECOND  PERSON :  TRUE  GOD. 

BY  THE  REV.   H.   G.   HUGHES. 
"What  think  you  of  Christ?" — Matt,  xxii,  42. 

Synopsis. — I.     The  question.     This  is  a  question  which  forces  itself  upon 
mankind.     Its  importance.     How  much  depends  on  the  answer. 

II.  The  answer.     Our  reply  is  that  which  Jesus  Christ  asserted  of 
Himself.     Necessity  for  Catholics  to  be  well  instructed  in  this  and  all 
the  doctrines  of  our  Holy  Religion.     The  times,  and  the  necessities  of 
souls  demand  this.     Our  Holy  Father  has  called  for  it  as  the  means  of 
restoring  all  things  in  Christ.     Helping  others  the  duty  of  the  layman 
as  well  as  of  the  priest. 

III.  The  Catholic  doctrine  developed.     The  words  of  the  Apostles 
Creed   (Art.  ii  to  vii),  Christ's  own  answer  to  the  question  which  He 
put  to  the  Pharisees:  His  reply  to  questioners  of  to-day.    Early  errors — 
confuted  by  St.  John;  turned  to  good  by  divine  providence — Arianism — 
its   teaching.     Definition    of   consubstantiality — the   result.     Meaning   of 
the  word;  explanation  of  the  true  doctrine. 

IV.  Further  proof  from  the  New  Testament,     (a)  The  incident  of 
Nicodemus..       Christ  declares  Himself  the  Only  begotten  .Son  of  God. 
Force   and  significance   of   this   expression.     "Only   begotten."     It  is  a 
figure   taken  from  human   things.     Where  it  falls  short   of  the  Divine 
Reality.     Unity  and  indivisibility  of  the  divine  nature.     (6)   Working  on 
the  Sabbath.     "My  Father  worketh  till  now,  and  I  work."    Meaning  of 
this  well  understood  by  the  Jews.    Explanation.    False  idea  of  the  Sab- 
bath.    God  works  still.     Christ  Our  Lord  puts  Himself  on  an  absolute 
equality  with  the  Father  in  this  work. 

V.  Conclusion.    Christ  is  God.    His  words  to  St.  Philip  at  9ie  last 
supper.    Sufficiency  of  His  own  testimony  of  Himself. 

I.  What  think  you  of  Christ?    The  question. 

"What  think  you  of  Christ?" — a  question,  my  dear  brethren,  for- 
mulated nearly  two  thousand  years  ago  by  Him  concerning  whom 
it  is  asked ;  a  question  imperative  and  insistent,  the  tones  of  which 
have  not  ceased  and  will  not  cease  to  re-echo  through  the  world;  a 
question  which,  whether  they  will  or  whether  they  will  not,  forces 
itself  upon  the  attention  of  mankind. 

It  is  a  question  all-important.  How  much  depends  upon  the 
answer?  Is  there  a  Saviour  from  sin?  Is  there  One  who  will  lift 
me  up  when  I  have  fallen ;  who  will  set  my  feet  upon  the  Rock  ?  Is 
there  One  to  whom  I  can  turn  in  my  misery  and  defilement,  knowing 
that  He  hath  power  to  cleanse  and  save?  Is  there  One  to  whom  I  can 
go  in  trouble  and  perplexity,  knowing  that  He  hath  suffered  too, 


II4  THE  CREED. 

that  He  can  sympathize,  can  enlighten,  for  in  Him  is  all  the  wis- 
dom and  knowledge  of  God?  Is  there  a  strong  Helper,  man 
even  as  I,  One  who  was  tempted,  even  as  I,  yet  One  who  is  sinless, 
to  whom  I  can  look  as  the  perfect  man,  who  hath  conquered  sin,  and 
death,  and  hell ;  who  being  true  man,  my  brother,  flesh  of  my  flesh 
and  bone  of  my  bone,  is  yet  also  God,  the  King  Eternal,  offering  to 
me  the  riches  of  His  mercy  and  His  grace,  whereby  I,  too,  may  be- 
come like  to  Him,  and  may  save  my  soul  ?  What  hope,  what  conso- 
lation, what  a  fount  of  courage  and  joy  and  peace,  if  we  can  answer 
these  questions  with  a  triumphant  "Yes!"  Whether  we  can  or  not 
depends  upon  the  answer  to  the  question  of  the  Master  Himself — 
"What  think  you  of  Christ?" 

II.    The  Answer. 

What  do  we  think  of  Christ?  We  think  and  we  say,  we  most 
firmly  and  assuredly  believe  that  which  Jesus  said  of  Himself — that 
which  the  Holy  Catholic  Church,  with  the  living  voice  of  her  con- 
tinuous tradition  pronounces  now,  and  has  pronounced  throughout 
the  ages  concerning  her  Lord  and  Master  from  the  day  when,  in  the 
persons  of  the  holy  apostles  and  disciples,  she  saw  Him,  in  the  days 
of  her  infancy,  ascending  to  the  "Right  hand  of  the  Father."  And, 
blessed  be  God,  to  those  questions  which  I  have  just  asked,  we  can 
and  do  reply  with  a  glad  affirmative,  because,  through  the  mercy  of 
God  we  are  able,  under  the  guidance  of  that  Church  which  Jesus 
Christ  established,  to  answer  aright  the  question  of  all  questions, 
"What  think  you  of  Christ?" 

Never,  perhaps,  was  there  a  time  in  the  world's  history  when 
men's  minds  were  fuller  of  anxious  interrogations  upon  all  that 
concerns  human  life ;  its  origin,  its  meaning,  its  final  destiny.  This 
is  not  an  age  of  quiet,  peaceful  faith ;  of  acceptance  of  the  teaching 
of  authority.  Everything  is  brought  to  the  test  of  human  reason: 
not  only  all  theories,  but  the  most  sacred  beliefs  of  mankind  are 
cast  into  the  crucible  of  inquiry.  We  need  not  fear  the  ultimate 
result.  The  truth  must  and  will  prevail.  But  there  are  sad  losses 
in  the  meantime ;  the  faith  of  many  is  being  destroyed,  and  with  it 
the  glorious  hope  of  the  future,  and  the  love  and  charity  which  alone 
can  make  this  desert  earth  to  blossom  with  those  noble  and  gracious 
virtues  which  Christian  charity — Christian  love  of  God  and  of  men 
for  God's  sake — brings  in  its  train. 

There  is  every  reason  then  for  us  Catholics  to  rouse  ourselves; 
we  may  not,  in  the  circumstances  of  our  times,  lull  ourselves  to  sleep 


THE  SECOND  PERSON:    TRUE   GOD.  115 

in  selfish  enjoyment  of  the  truth  which  is  ours.  The  times  and  the 
necessities  of  so  many  souls — souls,  my  brethren,  dear  to  God  as 
ours,  redeemed  like  ours  by  the  Precious  Blood  of  Jesus — the  neces- 
sities of  these  souls,  I  say,  demand  that  every  Catholic  shall  be  an 
apostle  of  the  truth. 

You  must  not  leave  this  to  your  priest ;  they  have  all  the  work  upon 
their  shoulders  that  they  can  well  perform.  You  must  share  their 
work,  under  their  leadership  and  guidance.  You  must  be  apostles. 
I  do  not  say  that  you  must  throw  yourselves  into  any  and  every 
question  that  is  mooted  now  about  religion.  No,  indeed ;  far  from  it. 
That  would  be  dangerous  to  your  souls  and  to  your  faith.  You 
must  leave  that  work  to  those  who  by  their  office  and  by  their  train- 
ing are  fitted  to  do  it  without  peril.  No:  the  question  of  religion 
and  of  religious  truth  is  settled  for  you.  You  possess,  thank  God 
for  it,  you  possess  the  holy  gift  of  faith :  you  are  firmly  established 
upon  that  rock ;  but  you  can  and  ought,  each  according  to  his  capacity 
and  opportunities,  to  stretch  out  from  your  secure  position  a  help- 
ing hand  to  those  who  are  being  carried  away  to  destruction  in  the 
bewildering  currents  of  a  sea  of  perplexity  and  doubt.  How  are 
you  to  do  this  ?  First  and  foremost  by  your  good  and  holy  lives ;  but 
also  by  a  firm  and  intelligent  grasp  of  the  principles  of  our  holy 
religion.  Not  in  the  spirit  of  skepticism  or  criticism,  but  in  the 
spirit  of  an  humble  and  thankful  faith,  you  must  inform  yourselves 
to  the  best  of  your  ability,  concerning  the  doctrines  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  your  Mother,  that  you  may  be  able  to  give  a  reason  for 
the  faith  that  is  in  you ;  that  being  yourselves  "instructed  in  the  way 
of  the  Lord,"  you  may  not  only  save  your  own  souls,  but  help  others 
on  the  way  of  salvation.  Our  Holy  Father  the  Pope,  who  at  the 
beginning  of  his  pontificate  set  before  him  as  his  object  "to  restore 
all  things  in  Jesus  Christ,"  has  pointed  out  the  paramount  impor- 
tance of  good  and  thorough  instruction  in  the  truths  of  religion  as  a 
means  of  gaining  that  great  end,  and  has  traced  the  evils  which 
afflict  society  within  and  without  the  Church  to  ignorance  of  reli- 
gious truth.  And  on  no  point  ought  a  Catholic  to  be  better  instructed 
than  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  concerning  Our  Blessed  Lord 
and  Saviour ;  the  teachings  in  which  she  gives  a  complete  answer  to 
that  ever  recurring  question :  "What  think  you  of  Christ  ?"  There 
are  thousands  asking  themselves  that  question,  wishing  that  they 
could  feel  sure  of  the  answer,  yet  feeling  that  they  can  not.  It  is 
for  us,  who  have  the  light  of  faith,  who  have  the  truth  about 


XI6  THE  CREED. 

Jesus  Christ,  it  is  for  us  to  be  so  well  grounded  in  the  truth  that  we 
may  bear  unflinching  testimony  to  that  blessed  truth  in  the  face  of 
the  world,  and  so  defeat  the  forces  of  incredulity  and  misbelief  by  the 
undaunted  firmness  of  our  own  belief,  and  the  thoroughness  of  our 
knowledge  of  those  sacred  doctrines  which  the  Church  delivers  to  us, 
as  well  as  of  the  solid  ground  upon  which  is  based  her  claim  to 
teach  mankind  the  truth  of  God. 

III.    The  Catholic  Doctrine  Developed. 

"What  thjlnk  you  of  Christ?"  Ah,  my  dear  brethren,  a  Catholic 
child  can  answer  that  question  with  a  confidence  and  a  completeness 
that  are  beyond  the  power  of  worldly  science  to  supply  to  its  vo- 
taries. Let  us  recall  the  words  of  the  Apostles'  Creed — that  ancient 
confession  of  the  Christian  faith.  "I  believe  ...  in  Jesus 
Christ,  His  only  Son,  Our  Lord;  who  was  conceived  by  the  Holy 
Ghost ;  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate ;  was 
crucified,  dead,  and  buried;  He  descended  into  hell;  the  third  day 
He  rose  again  from  the  dead;  He  ascended  into  heaven;  sitteth  at 
the  right  hand  of  God  the  Father  Almighty;  from  thence  He  shall 
come  to  judge  the  living  and  the  dead."  There  is  the  answer ;  there, 
in  simple  language,  is  the  faith  of  the  Apostles  and  of  the  Church. 
Jesus  Christ ;  God ;  the  only  begotten  Son  of  the  Father ;  Man,  too ; 
.born  of  the  Blessed  Virgin-mother;  God-made-Man,  who  suffered 
and  died  for  us ;  who  rose  again,  who  sits  in  glory,  in  our  nature,  on 
the  throne  of  the  Godhead ;  who  is  the  dread  Judge  of  all. 

But"  to-day  we  are  concerned  with  one  point  only ;  but  that  point 
is  the  very  central  truth  of  Christianity.  "What  think  you  of 
Christ?"  asked  Christ  Himself.  "Whose  Son  is  He?"  And  they  say 
to  Him,  David's.  He  saith  to  them :  How  then  doth  David  in  spirit 
call  him  Lord,  saying :  "The  Lord  said  to  my  Lord,  sit  on  my  right 
hand,  until  I  make  thy  enemies  thy  footstool?"  "If  David  then  call 
Him  Lord,  how  is  he  his  son  ?  And  no  man  was  able  to  answer  Him 
a  word"  (Matt,  xxii,  42-46).  They  said  the  Christ  should  be  the 
son  of  David;  the  Christ  Himself  who  stood  before  them  would 
have  them  know  that  He  is  more.  And  now,  in  our  times,  when 
men  are  giving  various  and  conflicting  replies — that  He  was  a  re- 
ligious enthusiast ;  that  He  was  the  greatest  and  best  of  men ;  that  in 
Him  human  nature  reached  its  highest  development;  that  in  his 
quiet  childhood  the  spirit  of  the  old  prophets  entered  into  Him; 
that  the  Messianic  hopes  of  His  race  took  so  strong  a  hold  upon 
Him  that  He  came  first  to  desire  and  then  to  see  their  fulfilment  in 


THE  SECOND  PERSON:    TRUE   GOD.  nj 

His  own  person.  To  these  and  all  such  solutions  of  the  great  ques- 
tion He  Himself,  through  His  own  recorded  words  in  Holy  Scrip- 
ture, through  the  voice  of  His  Church,  through  her  marvelous  his- 
tory and  accomplishments,  by  the  lives  of  His  followers  and  imi- 
tators, the  saints ;  by  the  very  power  of  His  religion  over  the  hearts 
and  minds  of  men,  yes,  and  for  those  who  have  come  to  Him,  by  the 
spiritual  experience  of  His  mercy  and  His  love — by  these  and  other 
means  Jesus  Himself  replies  to  the  question :  "If  I  am  but  what  you 
say  and  no  more,  how  do  all  these  facts  proclaim  me  God  and  Lord  ?" 
Yes,  dear  brethren,  Jesus  Christ  is  God;  the  Word  of  the  Father; 
of  one  and  the  same  nature  or  substance  with  Him;  worthy,  there- 
fore, of  the  same  worship  and  adoration  and  praise. 

In  the  early  ages  of  the  Church — indeed  from  the  very  beginning 
of  her  history,  the  enemy  of  mankind  raised  up  false  teachers,  who 
would  have  deprived  our  blessed  Lord  of  the  homage  due  to  His 
Divinity.  A  remote  tradition  tells  us  that  the  apostle  St.  John  wrote 
his  Gospel  for  the  express  purpose  of  refuting  certain  heretics  who 
denied  that  Christ  was  God.  And  he  proclaimed  the  truth  in  those 
majestic  words  with  which  the  fourth  Gospel  opens: 

"In  the  beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God, 
and  the  Word  was  God.  The  same  was  in  the  beginning  with  God." 
"In  the  beginning  with  God,"  from  all  eternity,  that  is,  He  was  with 
God  and  He  was  God.  He  is  the  almighty  Creator  of  heaven  and 
earth.  "All  things  were  made  by  him:  and  without  him  was  made 
nothing  that  was  made."  And  that  eternal  Word  is  none  other 
than  Jesus  Christ:  Jesus  Christ,  that  is  to  say,  is  God-made-Man. 
The  Second  Person  of  the  adorable  Trinity  become  incarnate,  hav- 
ing now  two  natures:  the  divine  nature,  which  is  His  from  all 
eternity;  the  human  nature,  which  He  took  from  His  blessed 
Mother  and  made  His  own;  for  "the  Word  was  made  flesh,  and 
dwelt  among  us  (and  we  saw  his  glory,  the  glory  as  it  were  of  the 
only  begotten  of  the  Father)  full  of  grace  and  truth"  (John  i,  14). 

God's  providence  has  turned  to  good  the  errors  and  unbelief  of 
men.  The  great  Arian  heresy  of  the  fourth  century  forced  the  Church 
to  express,  in  terms  of  great  precision,  such  as  should  allow  of  no 
escape  from  the  truth  by  any  subtilty  of  argument,  the  faith  de- 
livered to  the  saints,  and  held  and  taught  by  her  from  the  beginning. 
To  this  end  did  the  Church  introduce  into  the  Creed,  which  to  this 
day  we  recite  or  sing  in  the  Holy  Mass,  a  word  which  for  all  times 
secures  her  doctrine  against  all  misconception  and  all  elusiveness  of 


Il8  THE   CREED. 

error.  Jesus  Christ,  she  proclaims,  is  consubstantial  with  the  Father. 
The  Arians  were  willing  to  exalt  Christ  high  above  all  other  crea- 
tures, but  they  denied  His  Godhead.  They  asserted  that  the  Word 
was  a  creature,  though  the  highest  of  creatures;  made  before  all 
worlds,  most  perfect  and  closest  to  God  of  all  created  beings ;  worthy 
indeed,  by  His  excellence,  of  the  title  "Son  of  God,"  nay,  even  to  be 
called  divine  by  reason  of  a  certain  mysterious  participation  of 
divinity  conferred  upon  Him.  Further,  some  of  the  Arian  body 
were  willing  to  go  still  further,  and  to  say  that  the  Word  of  God, 
Jesus  Christ,  possessed  a  nature  exactly  similar  to  the  nature  of 
God  the  Father.  And  we  must  keep  in  mind  that  they  said  this  of 
the  nature  of  the  Word  of  God  as  He  was  before  the  Incarnation. 
To  all  these  subtilties  the  Church  had  but  one  answer:  "In  the 
beginning  was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the 
Word  was  God ;"  and  this  doctrine  of  St.  John  she  caused  to  be  en- 
shrined in  that  word  "consubstantial."  Not  the  highest  of  creatures, 
not  possessing  a  participation  of  divinity  conferred  upon  Him;  not 
even  of  a  nature  similar  in  all  respects  to  that  of  the  Father — no — 
none  of  these  statements  would  satisfy  the  Church;  none  of  them 
would  she  nor  could  she  admit  of  as  reconcilable  with  the  Holy  Scrip- 
tures of  which  she  and  she  alone  is  the  authorized  interpreter,  or 
as  consonant  with  her  divinely  guided  teaching  from  apostolic  times. 
No!  The  Word  is  consubstantial  with  the  Father.  What  does  that 
mean  ?  It  means,  dear  brethren,  that  there  is  but  ONE  divine  nature, 
and  that  this  one  single  divine  nature  is  equally  possessed  of  Father, 
Son  a'nd  Holy  Ghost;  not  divided  or  shared  out  among  the  Three, 
but  wholly  and  entirely  possessed  by  each  one ;  so  that  the  Father  is 
all  that  is  God ;  the  Son  is  all  that  is  God,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  is  all 
that  is  God.  That  divine  nature,  that  Godhead,  then,  which  Jesus 
Christ  Our  Lord  has  is  the  very  same  identical  and  single  divine 
nature  or  Godhead  as  that  of  the  Father.  In  other  words,  there  is 
one  God,  and  the  Father  is  that  God ;  the  Son  also  is  that  God,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  that  God.  Three  Persons,  but  one  God. 

"Glory  be  to  the  Father,  through  the  Son,  and  in  the  Holy  Ghost" 
so  Arius  taught  his  followers  to  sing ;  "Glory  be  to  the  Father  and 
to  the  Son  and  to  the  Holy  Ghost"  is  the  song,  at  once  an  aspira- 
tion of  praise  and  a  confession  of  the  true  faith,  which  the  Holy 
Catholic  Church  puts  into  our  mouth. 

And,  dear  brethren,  He,  that  gracious  One,  on  whom  all  our 
hopes  are  stayed;  He  our  Saviour;  He  who  knelt  in  agony  and 


THE  SECOND  PERSON:  TRUE  GOD. 


119 


hung  upon  the  Cross;  He  who  lives  in  heaven  now  to  make  inter- 
cession for  us — He  is  that  Son  of  God,  God  Himself,  consubstantiai 
with  the  Father,  one  with  the  Father  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  with 
Him  are  one  God  in  Three  Persons.  "What  think  you  of  Christ?" 
He  is  the  God  of  heaven  and  earth,  made  man  for  us  and  for  our 
salvation. 

"Who  is  Jesus  Christ  ?"  we  ask  our  children  in  the  simple  wTords  of 
our  Catechism.  "Jesus  Christ  is  God  the  Son  made  man  for  us," 
they  reply.  "Is  Jesus  Christ  truly  God?"  "Jesus  Christ  is  truly 
God."  "Why  is  Jesus  Christ  truly  God?"  "Because  he  has  one 
and  the  same  nature  with  the  Father." 

IV.     Other  Proofs  from  the  New  Testament. 

But  now  let  us  gather  from  the  New  Testament  some  of  the  many 
proofs  that  confirm  our  faith  in  the  Divinity  of  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  I  have  quoted  to  you  already  the  words  in  which  St.  John 
sets  forth,  in  no  uncertain  tone,  the  central  truth  of  Christianity ; 
and  the  words  in  which  our  blessed  Lord  Himself  put  the  Phari- 
sees to  silence,  so  that  "no  man  durst  ask  Him  any  more  questions." 
St.  John,  in  the  third  chapter  of  his  Gospel,  sets  before  us  a  pathetic 
account  of  a  ruler  in  Israel,  who,  struck  by  the  miracles  of  Jesus, 
came  secretly  by  night  to  interrogate  Him.  "There  was  a  man  of 
the  Pharisees,"  we  read,  "  Nicodemus  by  name,  a  ruler  of  the  Jews. 
This  man  came  to  Jesus  by  night,  and  said  to  him :  Rabbi,  we  know 
that  thou  art  come  a  teacher  from  God:  for  no  man  can  do  these 
signs  which  thou  doest  unless  God  be  with  him."  Then  our  blessed 
Lord  spoke  to  him  of  the  new  birth,  the  birth  of  Baptism,  "of 
water  and  the  Holy  Ghost,"  concluding  His  discourse  in  these  words : 
"As  Moses  lifted  up  the  serpent  in  the  desert,  so  must  the  Son  of 
man  be  lifted  up:  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  may  not  perish, 
but  have  life  everlasting.  For  God  so  loved  the  world,  as  to  give 
his  only  begotten  Son;  that  whosoever  believeth  in  him  may  not 
perish,  but  have  everlasting  life.  .  .  .  He  that  believeth  in  him 
is  not  judged.  But  he  that  doth  not  believe,  is  already  judged : 
because  he  believeth  not  in  the  name  of  the  only  begotten  Son  of 
God."  I  have  chosen  this  text  out  of  many  for  the  reason  that  in 
it  Our  Lord  insists  upon  that  fact  which  the  Church  proclaims  in 
her  use  of  the  word  "consubstantiai."  Jesus  declares  Himself  to 
be  the  "Only-begotten"  Son  of  the  Father.  He,  Our  Lord  says, 
who  believes  this  will  not  be  judged — that  is,  will  not  be  judged 
with  the  judgment  of  condemnation ;  he  that  pertinaciously  and  wil- 


I20  THE  CREED. 

fully  refuses  to  believe  this  fact  is  already  judged;  already  con- 
demned in  that,  by  his  unbelief,  and  so  long  as  he  remains  in  his 
unbelief,  he  withdraws  himself  from  the  way  of  salvation. 

What,  then,  is  the  force  and  significance  of  the  expression  twice 
used  here  by  Jesus  Christ  concerning  Himself?  The  Only-begotten 
Son  of  the  Father  ?  Even  God  Himself,  dear  brethren,  speaking  to 
men,  must  make  use  of  human  language ;  must  present  divine  truths 
to  us  under  figures  of  things  which  we  understand.  Calling  Himself 
the  Only-begotten  of  the  Father,  He  teaches  us  that  He,  and  He 
alone,  stands  in  a  similar  relation  to  His  heavenly  Father  as  an  only 
child  does  to  an  earthly  father.  And  what  is  that  relation?  A  son 
is  begotten  by  his  father;  the  father  communicates  to  his  child  his 
own  nature — human  nature,  that  is.  I  and  you  are  human  beings 
because  our  parents  were  human  beings,  and  communicated  to  us 
the  same  nature  that  they  themselves  possessed.  So,  then,  when 
Jesus  Christ  tells  us  that  He  is  the  Only-begotten  Son  of  God,  He 
tells  us  that  He  possesses  the  same  nature  as  His  Father.  Human 
nature,  indeed,  is  multiplied  in  many  individuals  of  the  species ;  and 
it  is  here  that  the  figure  used  by  Our  Lord  falls  short  of  the  divine 
reality,  as  all  human  language  must  necessarily  fall  short  of  things 
divine.  But  reason  comes  to  our  aid,  and  we  are  able,  in  the  light 
of  faith  and  by  the  aid  of  other  revealed  doctrines,  to  see  where  the 
figure  fails.  The  divine  nature,  we  know,  is  one  and  single — 
though  belonging  equally  to  Father,  Son  and  Holy  Ghost.  It  is  not 
multiplied.  So,  then,  for  Jesus  Christ  to  say  that  He  is  the  Only- 
begotten  of  the  Father  is  equivalent  to  asserting  that  He  is  very 
God,  that  He  is  of  the  same,  one,  identical  substance  or  nature  as 
His  Father;  and  this,  indeed,  is  the  truth  which  He  teaches  us  in 
His  words  to  Nicodemus. 

Turn  to  the  fifth  chapter  of  this  same  Gospel  of  St.  John.  It  is  the 
Sabbath  day.  Our  blessed  Lord  has  just  healed  a  paralytic.  "There- 
fore did  the  Jews  persecute  Jesus,  because  he  did  these  things  on 
the  Sabbath.  But  Jesus  answered  them:  My  Father  worketh  until 
now,  and  I  work.  Hereupon,  therefore,  the  Jews  sought  the  more 
to  kill  him,  because  he  did  not  only  break  the  Sabbath,  but  also 
said  God  was  his  Father,  making  himself  equal  to  God"  (John 
v,  16,  18). 

The  Jews,  dear  brethren,  showed  by  their  action  that  they  under- 
stood the  significance  of  these  words  better  than  many  a  Christian 
of  to-day  who  perhaps  reads  them  in  but  a  cursory  manner.  In 


THE  SECOND  PERSON:   TRUE  GOD.  121 

truth,  they  contain  a  definite  statement  by  Our  Lord  of  His  perfect 
equality  with  the  Father.  The  Jewish  people  had  formed  a  false 
idea  of  the  Sabbath,  leading  them  to  an  absurdly  rigorous  code  of 
laws  concerning  what  was  lawful  to  do  on  the  Sabbath  day.  Mis- 
understanding the  statement  of  Holy  Scripture  that  God  rested  on 
the  seventh  day  from  the  work  of  creation,  they  lost  sight  of  the 
truth  that  nevertheless  God  is  always  acting,  preserving,  sustaining 
His  creation,  so  that,  as  St.  Paul  tells  us,  "in  him  we  live,  and  move, 
and  are."  Our  Lord  would  recall  to  their  minds  that  God  is  ever 
working  in  His  creation ;  that  nothing  could  exist  without  the  active 
concurrence  of  Him  who  "upholds  all  things  by  the  word  of  his 
power"  (Heb.  i,  3)  ;  that  in  all  physical  laws,  as  well  as  in  all  the 
movements  of  the  spirit,  God  is  acting,  preserving,  upholding,  mov- 
ing His  creation.  And  in  this  continual  action  of  God  He  associates 
Himself  on  a  perfect  equality  with  His  Father ;  and  from  the  fact  of 
God's  continual  activity  justifies  His  own  action.  God  did  not  cease 
to  act  on  the  seventh  day :  I  cease  not  to  act.  "My  Father  worketh 
till  now,  and  I  work"  (John  v,  17).  The  Jews  understood  Him. 
To  their  mind,  who  heard  Him  speak,  He  claimed  divinity  and 
nothing  less.  Our  Lord,  far  from  receding  from  His  claim,  goes  on 
in  the  following  verses  to  emphasize  it.  Time  will  not  allow  me 
to  quote  the  whole  passage,  but  the  conclusion  must  not  be  passed 
over:  "He  who  honoreth  not  the  Son,  honoreth  not  the  Father 
who  sent  Him." 

V.     Conclusion. 

Yes,  dear  brethren,  Jesus  Christ  is  God.  This  is  the  doctrine 
taught  concerning  the  coming  Messias  by  the  prophets  of  old  time ; 
this  is  His  own  testimony  of  Himself.  At  the  last  supper,  Philip  said 
to  Him:  "Show  to  us  the  Father."  "Have  I  been  so  long  a  time 
with  you;  and  have  you  not  known  me?"  Here  Our  Lord  implies 
that  they  ought  to  have  known ;  that  He  had  already  told  them  with 
sufficient  plainness.  "Philip,"  He  continues,  "he  that  seeth  me  seeth 
the  Father  also.  How  sayest  thou,  show  us  the  Father  ?  Do  you  not 
believe  that  I  am  in  the  Father  and  the  Father  in  me?" 

The  testimony  of  His  enemies  shows  that  He  made  this  claim. 
Miracles  and  the  fulfilment  of  prophecy  establish  its  truth.  The 
Church  from  the  beginning  has  taught  it;  yes,  and  the  work  of 
Jesus  in  the  world  to-day,  the  work  of  His  Church,  the  lives  of  His 
saints  attest  the  power  of  her  name  and  prove  that  He  is  divine. 

An  objector  might  say — you  are  proving  the  divinity  of  Jesus 


laa  THE  CREED. 

chiefly  from  what  He  said  of  Himself.  Yes,  in  part  that  is  true. 
Like  Himself,  we  appeal  also  to  His  works;  but,  granting  the  ob- 
jection we  may  ask,  and  with  confidence  ask:  Is  He  not  to  be 
trusted?  The  greatest  enemies  of  the  doctrine  of  His  divinity  have 
freely  acknowledged  that  His  character  is  simply  perfect.  "We 
often  ask  ourselves,"  says  a  modern  Catholic  writer  (Pere  Rose,  O.P. 
Studies  on  the  Gospels.  Intro,  p.  xvi),  how  men  .  .  .  can  pos- 
sibly fail  to  understand  how  they  destroy  (Jesus)  when  they  suspect 
His  sincerity,  representing  Him  as  a  visionary,  the  victim  of  the 
most  monstrous  illusions."  And  again :  "How  can  these  critics  not 
see  that  the  more  they  exalt  the  man  in  Jesus  Christ  the  more  they 
strengthen  the  testimony  He  gave  of  Himself  touching  His  celestial 
origin,  His  divine  sonship"?  (ib.) 

Yes,  indeed.  By  the  confession  of  all,  the  life  of  Jesus  was  a 
perfect  life :  there  is  no  flaw  to  be  found  in  it.  He  said  that  He  was 
God;  and  we  believe  Him.  And  if  that  is  not  enough  to  satisfy  an 
honest  mind  we  may  say  to  such  what  He  Himself  said  to  His  slow- 
minded  disciple:  "Believe  you  not  that  I  am  in  the  Father,  and  the 
Father  in  Me?  Otherwise  believe  for  the  very  works'  sake"  (John 
xiv,  n,  12). 


THE  INCARNATION. 


123 


XIV.    THE  INCARNATION. 

BY  THE  REV.  THOMAS  F.  BURKE,  C.S.P. 

"Who  being  in  the  form  of  God,  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with 
God;  but  emptied  himself,  taking  the  form  of  a  servant,  being  made  in  the 
likeness  of  men,  and  in  habit  found  as  a  man." — Philippians  ii.  6,  7. 

SYNOPSIS. — /.  Introduction:  The  Incarnation  the  corner-stone  of  Chris- 
tianity. All  other  Christian  beliefs  dependent  upon  it.  What  proves  the 
Incarnation  proves  the  divinity  of  Christ.  We  shall  see  (a)  what  the 
Incarnation  means;  (b)  some  reasons  for  its  acceptance;  (c)  its  bear- 
ing upon  our  lives. 

II.  The  meaning  of  Incarnation,  (a)  The  name  of  Christ  brings  the 
idea  of  one  -who  was  not  only  a  man  but  also  God.     (fe)    The  literal 
meaning,  the  union  of  two  natures  in  one  person.     Explanation  of  Na- 
ture and  Person,     (c)   Four  distinct  ideas  in  the  doctrine  of  the  In- 
carnation.   The  definition  of  it  in  the  Athanasian  Creed,    (d)  The  benefit 
to  the  world  from  acceptance  of  this  fact. 

III.  The  Scriptures  witness  to  the  Incarnation,     (a)  Against  those 
who  have  denied  the  Godhead  in  Christ  the  Church  brings  the  statements 
of  apostolic  witnesses,     (fc)  Against  those  who  have  denied  in  one  re- 
spect or  another  the  complete  manhood  in  Christ,  the  Church  likewise 
brings  apostolic  witnesses,     (c)   The  whole  life  of  Christ  bears  witness 
to  the  union  of  the  divine  and  human  natures  in  the  one  Divine  Person. 

IV.  Bearing  of  the  Incarnation  on  our  lives.    In  that  it  shows  God's 
great  love  for  man  and  also  reveals  man's  true  dignity,  it  incites  us  to 
lead  lives  worthy  of  our  eternal  destiny. 

I.  The  cornerstone  of  the  whole  structure  of  Christianity,  my 
dear  brethren,  is  the  fact  of  the  divinity  of  its  Founder.  Upon  that 
fact  is  based  the  authoritative  character  of  all  Christian  teachings; 
and  whatever  we  accept  as  essential  to  the  gaining  of  eternal  life  is 
considered  essential  for  the  very  reason  that  it  was  proclaimed  by 
a  Divine  Voice.  Useful  and  beautiful  though  other  doctrines  may 
be  in  themselves,  their  value  rests  upon  the  truth  of  this  primary 
one,  the  divinity  of  the  Saviour.  As  in  the  solar  system,  all  things 
are  centered  in  the  sun,  dependent  upon  it  for  their  very  existence, 
and  as  all  things  would  fail  with  the  going  out  of  its  light  and  the 
ceasing  of  its  heat,  so  all  the  dogmas  of  our  faith  are  centered  in 
Christ's  divinity,  and  were  that  great  fact  removed,  they  would  be 
worthless,  in  fact  they  would  cease  to  exist. 

The  word  which  has  been  chosen  to  denote  the  accomplishment  of 
this  great  mystery  of  God's  coming  upon  earth  is  "Incarnation." 


THE  CREED. 

In  a  sense  we  may  consider  the  manner  of  its  accomplishment  apart 
from  the  fact,  though  necessarily  in  such  a  consideration  the  fact 
itself  is  supposed.  Thus,  in  the  natural  world,  for  example,  our 
thought  may  be  concerned  with  the  fact  of  electricity  or  with  the 
manner  of  its  generation ;  or,  again,  we  may  dwell  upon  the  fact  of 
a  falling  body,  or  upon  the  reason  for  this  phenomenon.  Thus,  too, 
to  take  another  Catholic  doctrine,  we  draw  a  distinction  between  the 
fact  of  Christ's  real  presence  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament  and  the  pro- 
cess by  which  it  is  brought  about,  namely,  transubstantiation.  In 
such  a  way  we  may,  too,  distinguish  between  the  divinity  of  Jesus 
Christ  and  the  manner  in  which  that  fact  is  brought  about,  namely, 
Incarnation. 

On  the  other  hand,  however,  it  must  be  clear  that  whatever  goes 
to  establish  the  Incarnation  is  likewise  a  proof  of  Christ's  divinity, 
for  the  former  includes  the  latter,  just  as  whatever  proves  transub- 
stantiation is  a  valid  argument  for  the  real  objective  presence  of 
Christ  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  Holy  Eucharist. 

With  this  preliminary  then,  it  is  well  for  us,  in  a  day  when,  among 
many,  if  the  Incarnation  is  not  entirely  denied  it  is  at  least  but 
vaguely  understood,  to  recall  the  Christian  doctrine  upon  this  subject, 
to  see  at  least  some  of  the  reasons  for  its  acceptance  and  to  under- 
stand something  of  the  wonderful  bearing  it  has  upon  our  lives. 

2.  When  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  is  mentioned  there  naturally  rises 
before  us  the  vision  of  a  man  who  trod  this  earth  centuries  ago  in 
living  flesh  and  blood ;  there  comes  the  figure  of  one  who  drew  men 
to  Himself,  who  won  men  by  the  gentleness  of  His  manner,  by  the 
kindness  of  His  words,  by  His  teaching  of  the  future  life;  of  one 
who,  more  than  all  other  teachers  and  prophets  combined,  exercised 
an  influence  for  good  upon  humanity;  of  one  who  in  His  life  and 
conduct  brought  again  to  light  the  truth  and  power  that  were  lying 
dormant  or  corrupted  in  the  intellect  and  the  heart  and  the  will  of 
man.  All  admit  that  Christ  was  a  human  being.  Born  of  woman, 
He  grew  from  childhood  to  youth  and  manhood.  He  lived,  He 
suffered,  He  died  as  man.  But  the  ages  in  which  Christ  has  been 
preached  and  the  multitudes  to  whom  Christ  has  been  made  known 
unite  in  proclaiming  Him  to  be  more  than  man — even  to  be  God  Him- 
self. Voices  of  opposition  indeed  have  been  heard  in  the  land,  but 
the  great  multitude  of  Christian  peoples  are  united  in  accepting 
Christ  as  the  Incarnate  Son  of  God. 

What  does  that  belief  mean?     Literally,  incarnation  means  the 


THE  INCARNATION.  125 

taking  on  of  flesh.  Applied  to  the  Son  of  God,  it  is  that  act  by 
which  the  Second  Person  of  the  Blessed  Trinity  came  upon  earth 
and  took  to  Himself  a  human  nature  such  as  that  which  we  possess. 
This  does  not  mean  that  human  nature  became  divine  nature,  for 
this  would  be  a  contradiction  in  terms.  It  means  that  the  Divine 
Person,  in  whom  the  divine  nature  is  complete,  united  to  the  divine 
nature  in  that  one  person,  the  nature  of  man,  so  that  we  have  the 
mystery  of  the  two  natures,  that  of  God  and  that  of  man  existing 
in  the  one  Person  who  is  divine. 

Nature  and  person — let  us  see  if  we  can  grasp  a  little  of  the  mean- 
ing of  these  words.  As  I  look  about  me  in  this  church  to-day,  I  see 
a  number  of  human  beings.  All  of  you  have  something  in  common, 
something  that  is  a  distinguishing  mark,  that  separates  you  from 
all  other  creatures,  from  the  angels  in  heaven  and  from  other  species 
or  kinds  of  beings  upon  earth;  a  something  that  makes  you  to  be 
what  you  are,  namely  human  beings.  This  something  we  call  human 
nature. 

I  can  see  further  that  this  human  nature  is  complete  in  each  indi- 
vidual. Thus  you  do  not  attribute  your  actions  to  another,  or  to  the 
race  in  general,  but  you  attribute  them  to  yourself.  You  say  of  these 
acts,  whether  you  performed  them  to-day  or  ten  or  twenty  or  more 
years  ago,  "I  did  them."  You  feel  and  realize  that  they  belong  to 
you  individually.  Now  this  condition  in  which  a  being  is  responsible 
for  his  acts,  whether  they  be  moral,  or  physical  or  intellectual,  is 
called  personality.  In  the  human  being,  nature  and  personality  are 
one. 

Again,  if  I  consider  this  human  nature,  I  find  that  it  is  two-fold : 
it  is  partly  spiritual  and  partly  material ;  it  is  composed  of  body  and 
soul.  All  actions,  however,  whether  they  spring  principally  from 
the  soul  or  from  the  body,  are  attributed  neither  to  the  one  nor  to 
the  other  alone,  but  to  both  combined,  forming  the  one  responsible 
person.  Thus  though  it  is  the  body  that  eats,  you  say:  "I  eat." 
Thus,  though  it  is  the  soul  that  thinks,  you  say :  "I  think."  Now  this 
union  of  soul  and  body  in  man  has  been  used  as  an  illustration — for 
there  is  a  likeness — of  the  union  of  man  and  God  in  Jesus  Christ. 
The  Athanasian  Creed  puts  it  thus :  "As  the  rational  soul  and  the 
flesh  is  one  man,  so  God  and  man  is  one  Christ."  In  the  incarnate 
Christ  there  exist  two  natures,  that  of  God  and  that  of  man,  united 
in  One  Person,  and  since  that  Person  is  divine,  all  His  actions  are 
of  a  divine  character.  This  Person  was  always  God,  existing 


I26  THE   CREED. 

throughout  eternity,  the  Second  Person  of  the  blessed  Trinity.  In 
time  He  became  man  for  the  glory  of  God  and  the  redemption  of 
mankind. 

Summing  up  this,  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation,  it  can 
be  seen  that  there  are  contained  in  it  substantially,  four  distinct 
ideas.  First,  Jesus  Christ  is  very  God,  equal  to  God  the  Father  and 
God  the  Holy  Ghost,  possessed  of  all  the  divine  attributes,  power 
and  majesty.  Secondly,  Jesus  Christ  is  man,  having  a  body  and 
soul  like  ours,  endowed  with  all  human  faculties.  Thirdly,  while 
Jesus  Christ  is  both  God  and  man,  God  from  eternity,  made  man  in 
time,  yet  He  is  but  one  Person,  one  individual  Being,  and  that  Person 
is  divine.  Fourthly,  the  manhood  possessed  by  Christ,  though  it  is 
really  assumed  into  the  Divine  Person,  still  remains  entirely  human, 
so  that  in  respect  of  His  manhood  Christ  is  of  one  substance  with 
us.  Words  could  not  more  clearly  state  this  doctrine  than  the  defini- 
tion used  in  the  Athanasian  Creed:  "The  right  faith  is  that  we 
believe  and  confess  that  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Son  of  God,  is  both 
God  and  man.  He  is  God  from  the  substance  of  the  Father,  begot- 
ten before  all  ages ;  and  man  from  the  substance  of  His  mother  born 
in  time ;  perfect  God,  perfect  man,  subsisting  of  a  rational  soul  and 
human  flesh;  equal  to  the  Father  according  to  His  Godhead;  less 
than  the  Father  according  to  His  manhood ;  who  though  He  be  both 
God  and  man,  nevertheless  is  not  two  but  the  one  Christ;  one,  not 
by  the  conversion  of  the  Godhead  into  flesh  but  by  the  taking  of 
manhood  unto  God;  one  altogether,  not  by  the  confusion  of  sub- 
stance, but  by  unity  of  person.  For  as  the  rational  soul  and  the 
flesh  is  one  man,  so  God  and  man  is  one  Christ." 

Such  the  doctrine  of  the  Incarnation  which  the  Catholic  Church 
has  steadfastly  proclaimed  and  unflinchingly  defended.  Its  very  ex- 
istence through  the  many  centuries  of  human  change  and  against 
numerous  attacks  stamps  it  with  the  seal  of  truth.  For  it  is  as  much 
beyond  man's  invention  as  the  sun  is  beyond  the  eagle  that  soars  into 
its  light.  That  He  who  is  God,  who  "thought  it  not  robbery  to  be 
equal  with  God,"  should  "empty  himself,  taking  the  form  of  a  ser- 
vant, being  made  in  the  likeness  of  men,"  could  have  been  conceived 
only  in  the  Divine  Mind,  as  it  could  have  been  accomplished  only 
by  the  Divine  Will.  To  my  mind,  one  of  the  greatest  proofs  of  its 
truth  is  to  be  found  in  the  benefit  that  has  accrued  to  mankind  from 
its  acceptance  during  the  past  nineteen  centuries.  We  who  live 
with  centuries  of  Christian  civilization  behind  us  can  scarcely  appre- 


THE  INCARNATION.  127 

ciate  at  first  glance  the  change  that  has  been  wrought  in  the  world. 
Could  we,  however,  but  conjure  up  the  vision  of  past  paganism  with 
its  terrible  immorality  and  degradation,  so  low  that  we  wonder  that 
man  even  without  grace  could  descend  to  it,  and  contrast  this  state 
of  things  with  the  civilization  of  to-day,  even  with  its  spots  of 
leprosy,  we  would  realize  that  only  a  fact  which  is  divine  could 
have  brought  about  the  change.  Whether  men  acknowledge  it  or 
not,  the  nobler  realities  of  our  present  civilization,  the  higher  moral 
standards  by  which  men  are  judged  to-day,  testify  to  the  coming  of 
the  Son  of  God  upon  the  earth  as  man. 

3.  The  fact  of  the  Incarnation  is  borne  witness  to  in  the  Sacred 
Scriptures.  Because,  at  various  times  in  the  history  of  Christianity 
opponents  have  attacked  this  doctrine  in  one  point  or  another,  the 
Church  has  defined  and  declared  exactly  its  meaning ;  but  all  of  her 
decisions  have  been  based  upon  the  teaching  of  the  apostles.  In  all 
her  declarations  it  is  to  be  noted  that  she  has  ever  preserved  that 
which  shows  the  great  beauty  and  glory  of  the  mystery,  namely,  the 
perfect  union  of  God  and  man. 

If  with  Arius  of  old  some  deny  that  Christ  was  truly  God,  assign- 
ing to  Him  the  place  as  it  were  of  a  demi-god,  making  of  Him  the 
most  perfect  of  all  creatures,  but  still  allowing  Him  to  be  only  a 
creature,  the  Church  summons  the  witnesses  of  apostolic  days  to 
proclaim  the  truth.  She  calls  upon  the  greatest  defender  of  Christ's 
divinity,  St.  John,  and  he  bears  testimony,  for  he  says  that  the  Word, 
who  is  Jesus  Christ,  "was  with  God,  and  the  Word  was  God."  In 
his  Apocalypse,  that  revelation  vouchsafed  especially  to  him,  he 
pictures  Christ  as  the  Lamb  receiving  the  worship  that  is  given  to 
God :  "To  him  that  sitteth  on  the  throne  and  to  the  Lamb,  benedic- 
tion and  honor  and  glory  and  power  forever  and  ever"  (Apoc.  v,  13). 

She  appeals  to  St.  Paul,  who  staked  all  upon  his  belief  in  Christ's 
divinity  and  he  gives  testimony  of  his  faith  in  the  Godhead  of  Christ 
when  he  states  that  He  who  is  the  Redeemer  is  He  "who  is  over  all 
things  God  blessed  forever"  (Rom.  ix,  5),  and  when  he  proclaims 
that  Jesus  Christ  "thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God" 
(Phil,  ii,  6). 

She  calls  upon  the  apostolic  writers  in  general,  and  to  those  who 
read  the  New  Testament  with  open  eyes  and  unprejudiced  mind, 
it  is  evident  that  these  pioneers  of  Christianity  are  agreed  in  identi- 
fying Christ  with  the  Lord  of  all  things,  with  the  Jehovah  of  the 
Old  Testament. 


I28  THE  CREED. 

Or,  if  some,  admitting  that  Christ  is  God,  on  the  other  hand  deny 
to  Him  true  human  nature  either  in  its  entirety  or  in  part,  the  Church 
is  just  as  jealous  in  guarding  this  side  of  the  truth,  again  appealing 
to  the  teaching  of  Christ's  chosen  messengers.  Thus,  when  she  con- 
demned the  teaching  that  declared  there  was  in  Christ  no  human 
soul  such  as  that  which  exists  in  man,  when  she  declared  false 
the  assertion  that  the  human  nature  was  lost  and  swallowed  up 
in  the  divine,  and  when  again  she  inveighed  against  the  opin- 
ion of  the  Monothelites,  who  would  curtail  the  human  faculties 
of  Christ,  she  invented  no  new  doctrine  but  simply  reiterated  the 
first  teaching  of  Christianity.  She  cites  the  evangelists  who  con- 
tinually insist  upon  the  humanity  of  Christ  in  the  complete  sense  of 
that  word ;  who  depict  the  Saviour  as  a  Man  who  knew  with  a  human 
mind,  who  obeyed  and  served  with  a  human  will,  who  prayed  with 
a  human  soul.  She  cites  St.  John,  who,  without  equivocation  or 
reserve,  says  that  "the  Word  was  made  flesh;"  who  asserts  that 
Jesus  Christ  "is  come  in  the  flesh"  (II.  John,  7).  She  cites  St.  Paul, 
who  says  that  the  Son  of  God  "emptied  himself,  taking  the  form  of 
a  servant"  (Phil,  ii,  7).  Or  again,  she  cites  St.  Peter,  who  speaks  of 
Christ's  human  spirit  side  by  side  with  His  human  body  (I.  Pet.  iii, 
18).  Indeed,  in  all  the  New  Testament  there  is  nothing  clearer  than 
Christ's  true  and  complete  humanity,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact,  how- 
ever many  have  assailed  the  divinity  of  the  Saviour,  few,  especially 
in  later  days,  have  questioned  His  humanity. 

The  whole  life  of  Jesus  Christ,  from  Bethlehem  to  Calvary,  is  re- 
plete with  proofs  that  show  forth  the  double,  yet  single,  truth  of  the 
Godhead  and  manhood  united  in  one  person.  Enter  the  stable  at 
Bethlehem  and  you  behold,  lying  upon  the  straw,  an  infant,  born  of 
woman,  a  man  like  unto  all  men ;  but  you  behold  also  a  God  whose 
coming  the  angels  announce  and  who  receives  the  adoration  of  the 
shepherds  and  the  kings  of  the  East.  Gather  with  those  who  witness 
the  baptism  of  the  Saviour  in  the  Jordan,  and  you  behold  a  man, 
one  who  has  taken  to  Himself  the  likeness  of  sin,  but  you  behold 
also  a  God  for  whom  the  heavens  are  opened,  upon  whom  the  Holy 
Spirit  descends,  and  of  whom  the  Father  says :  "This  is  my  beloved 
son,  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased."  Go  with  Him  out  into  the  desert, 
and  you  will  witness  a  man  who  hungers  and  thirsts,  but  you  will 
witness  also  a  God  who  is  ministered  unto  by  angels.  Journey  with 
Him  throughout  Judea  and  you  will  see  a  man  who  lives  as  other 
men,  who,  in  fact,  lives  a  life  of  poverty,  who  grows  wearv  under 


THE  INCARNATION.  129 

his  burdens,  who  is  despised,  hated  and  pursued  by  some,  even  unto 
death,  but  you  will  see  also  a  God  who  cures  the  sick  and,  of  His 
own  power,  raises  the  dead  to  life.  In  the  garden  of  Gethsemane 
you  behold  the  man  stricken  to  earth  in  an  agony  of  blood,  saddened, 
sorrowful  even  unto  death,  but  you  also  behold  the  God  whose  voice 
alone  strikes  back  His  captors  and  whose  word  cures  the  wounded 
soldier.  Upon  the  Cross  you  behold  the  man,  who  is  terribly  tor- 
tured, who  suffers  the  woful  agony  of  thirst,  who  is  deserted  and 
left  desolate,  but  you  also  behold  the  God  with  whose  suffering 
nature  itself  sympathizes  and  who,  on  the  third  day,  is  to  rise  from 
the  dead,  giving  thus  the  greatest  proof  of  His  divinity. 

To  us  this  mystery  has  a  wonderful  meaning.  That  God  should 
redeem  man  at  all,  that  He  should  make  atonement  for  the  sins  of 
mankind,  is  an  evidence  of  infinite  mercy.  But  that  God  should  have 
chosen  this  special  way,  the  Incarnation  of  His  Divine  Son,  is  an 
evidence  of  His  stupendous  love  for  the  creature  of  His  hand.  It  is 
the  answer  of  heaven  to  the  cravings,  the  longings  of  man,  an  answer 
to  be  conceived  only  in  the  Divine  Mind.  Religion,  in  its  very  es- 
sence, implies  a  loving  creature  and  a  loving  God;  and  the  history 
of  man's  spiritual  life  has  been  a  series  of  cravings  and  a  series  of 
answers. 

In  the  offerings  of  Cain,  when  he  placed  before  the  Lord  the  fruits 
of  the  field,  or  of  Abel,  when  he  presented  the  firstlings  of  his 
flock ;  in  the  ritual  observances  of  the  chosen  people,  in  the  blood  of 
sacrifice,  in  the  victim  of  the  holocaust ;  in  the  glories  of  the  temple 
of  Solomon;  in  the  lowly  catacombs  of  Christianity's  dawn,  in  the 
mediaeval  miracles  of  stone;  in  the  rude  worship  of  the  uncouth 
barbarian  and  the  humble  offering  of  the  untutored  savage;  in  the 
monumental  tributes  erected  by  Greece  and  Rome  to  their  pagan 
deities;  in  Egypt's  enduring  walls  of  Thebes  and  Karnak;  in  all 
these  we  detect  the  great  desire  of  man  and  look  upon  the  silent 
witnesses  to  the  everlasting  craving  of  man's  heart  for  God. 

And  God  has  come  to  man  in  many  and  in  various  ways ;  not  only 
in  the  ordinary  and  usual  visitations  of  His  grace  to  individual 
souls,  in  the  inspirations  and  spiritual  evidences  of  His  presence, 
but  also  in  extraordinary  and,  we  might  say,  physical  manifestations. 
Read  in  the  word  of  God  of  the  many  such  favors  granted  to  man, 
and  we  must  exclaim :  "Truly,  God  is  Love."  Behold  how  in  some 
palpable  and  real  way,  though  it  is  not  given  us  to  understand,  God 
walked  in  the  garden  of  His  created  paradise  and  spoke  with  man. 


I3o  THE  CREED. 

Again,  learn  of  the  great  vision  of  God  with  which  Jacob  was  fa- 
vored at  Bethel ;  and  how  the  heavens  were  opened  to  Abraham  and 
Moses  in  the  apparitions  of  God  that  were  accorded  them ;  and  we 
must  say:  "God  is  Love."  Or  yet  again,  learn  how  in  the  desert 
journeyings  of  the  Israelites,  God  was  present  always  in  a  visible 
manner,  by  day  in  the  form  of  a  cloud  and  in  a  pillar  of  fire  by 
night;  learn  how  when  Solomon's  temple,  in  all  its  beauty,  was 
dedicated  to  God's  honor,  the  glory  of  the  Lord,  the  visible  symbol 
of  His  abiding  presence,  filled  all  the  sanctuary,  and  we  must  say: 
"God  is  Love." 

All  these,  however,  grand  and  sublime  though  they  be,  fade  away 
before  the  light  and  splendor  of  His  latest  coming :  all  these  evidences 
of  God's  love  and  desire  for  man  are  obscured  by  the  glory  of  that 
mighty  love  that  shines  forth  in  the  Incarnation.  Prostrate  before 
the  God  made  Man,  with  a  knowledge  that  was  not  accorded  of  old, 
with  a  devotion  to  which  even  the  patriarchs  and  prophets  were 
strangers,  with  a  sympathy  that  strikes  a  note  of  sweetest  friend- 
ship, with  an  affection  that  transcends  all  other  tributes  of  man,  we 
can  now  exclaim  with  the  highest  and  sublimest  meaning:  "God  is 
Love." 

However  little  we  may  understand  of  the  deep  mystery  of  the  In- 
carnation, this  at  least  we  can  grasp,  that  it  is  an  expression  of  God's 
desire  to  be  with  man  and  the  recognition  of  man's  desire  to  be  with 
God.  "God  so  loved  the  world  as  to  send  His  only  begotten  Son." 
"He  came  not  to  judge  the  world,  but  that  the  world  may  be  saved  by 
Him."  "He  came  that  all  may  have  life  and  have  it  more  abundantly." 
The  promise  spoken  by  God  in  the  beginning  of  the  human  race  is 
now  fulfilled;  the  fact  proclaimed  by  the  lips  of  the  ancient  seer: 
"Behold  a  virgin  shall  conceive  and  bear  a  son,"  is  now  accom- 
plished ;  the  prophecy  uttered  of  old  is  now,  in  the  truest  and  strict- 
est sense,  fully  realized,  and  God  is  become  our  God  with  us,  our 
Emmanuel. 

In  His  Incarnation,  Christ  likewise  reveals  the  true  dignity  of 
man.  He  comes  in  human  flesh.  Lowly  indeed  is  His  condition,  but 
even  in  that  there  shines  forth  the  more  the  glory  of  His  love  and 
man's  true  greatness.  In  the  Incarnation  and  in  it  alone  we  can 
conceive  man's  high  estate.  This  glorious  mystery  is  the  only  title  of 
nobility  that  mankind  can  claim.  Without  it  we  could  scarcely  have 
any  faith  in  man's  destiny  of  goodness  and  happiness;  without  it 
the  dread  veil  of  sin  and  crime  would  obscure  the  essential  beauty 


THE  INCARNATION.  131 

of  the  soul ;  but  with  it,  we  are  enabled,  through  the  power  of  God's 
revelation,  to  divest  man  of  the  garb  of  wretchedness,  to  unclothe 
the  meanest  and  the  lowest  of  the  vesture  of  crime  and  guilt,  and  to 
behold,  emerging  from  its  habitation  of  sin,  a  soul  made  for  eternal 
life  with  God. 

And  in  all  this  revelation  that  comes  to  us  in  the  Incarnate  Christ, 
there  is  established  in  our  hearts  the  desire,  and  in  our  wills  the 
power,  to  live  ever  a  purer  and  holier  existence,  until  not  only  put- 
ting aside  sin,  but  also  putting  on  the  beauty  of  ever-increasing 
goodness,  we  shall  become  in  truth  children  of  the  Most  High. 


THE   CREED. 


XV.    THE  IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION. 

BY  THE  REV.  J.   H.  STAPLETON. 

"Many  daughters  have  gathered  together  riches:  them  hast  surpassed 
them  all." — Prov.  xxxi,  29. 

SYNOPSIS.— I.  The  devotion  which  Catholics  pay  to  the  Blessed  Virgin 
is  explained  by  the  fact  that  they  love  her;  they  love  her  because  through 
faith  they  know  her.  Enlightened  faith  does  but  serve  to  make  us  more 
devoted  to  her.  Our  faith  is  enlightened  by  knowledge  of  what  we' 
believe  and  of  the  reasons  for  our  believing. 

II.  The  object  of  our  belief.    Negative:  The  Immaculate  Conception 
is  not  to  be  confounded  with  the  mystery  of  the  virgin  birth;  it  is  not  a 
mere  purification;  it  refers  not  to  her  parents  nor  does  it  change  her 
nature  of  creature.    Positive:  It  consists  in  the  privilege  of  being  exempt 
from  original  sin. 

III.  The  reasons  of  our  belief.     Immediate :  The  authority  of  the 
infallible  Vicar  of  Christ.    Remote:  The  belief,  practice,  and  teaching  of 
the    Church   from    the   beginning,    exemplified    in    the    doctrine    of    the 
Second  Eve,  crystallized  finally  in  the  definition  of  the  Church.     Again 
the  instinctive  sentiment   of  Christians  refuses  to   brook   the   contrary 
teaching. 

IV.  Conclusion. 

Preamble. — A  stranger  in  our  churches,  unacquainted  with  our 
beliefs,  is  naturally  led  to  remark  on  the  prominence  we  give  to  the 
cult  of  the  mother  of  God,  the  unstinted  praise  we  offer  her,  the 
whole-souled  devotion  we  pay  her.  Were  we  asked  the  reason  of 
this  piety  and  religion,  we  should  unhesitatingly  reply  that  it  is 
because  we  love  her;  and  we  love  her,  who  is  supremely  lovely  and 
lovable,  because  we  know  her.  How  do  we  know  her?  By  faith, 
that  is,  from  what  we  have  been  taught  by  the  religious  Teacher  of 
the  Ages  concerning  her.  From  the  Church  we  have  learned  of 
the  signal  virtues  and  privileges  which  in  her  led  up,  as  though 
by  degrees,  to  the  crowning  glory  of  her  divine  maternity.  Most 
conspicuous  among  these  prerogatives  is  that  of  her  Immaculate 
Conception. 

Our  devotion  to  Mary  is  therefore  founded  on  our  belief;  it  is 
the  fruit  of  our  faith;  it  is  the  love  and  affection  that  follows  nat- 
urally in  the  wake  of  intimate  knowledge  of  a  worthy  object.  Piety, 
devotion,  is  of  the  heart;  knowledge,  belief,  faith,  pertains  to  the 


THE  IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION.  133 

mind.  He  who  knows  that  which  is  true,  good,  beautiful,  must, 
unless  he  be  perverse  and  degenerate,  love  it;  and  loving  it,  he  can 
not  keep  his  affections  locked  up  in  his  heart,  concealed  from  the 
eyes  of  men.  That  love  must  come  out  and  show  itself.  Nay  more, 
the  lover  will  become  ingenious,  and  with  infinite  pains  will  devise 
means  of  displaying  his  sentiments.  Men  are  ever  indifferent  to  an 
utter  stranger  and  can  only  with  difficulty  work  up  immediate  sym- 
pathy for  those  whom  they  know  but  scantily.  But  let  them  come 
to  learn  the  sterling  worth  of  a  fellow  creature,  his  charm  of  char- 
acter, his  integrity,  unselfishness  and  the  other  qualities  that  make 
one  lovable,  and  they  will  not  only  give  the  best  that  heart  can  give, 
but  will  sing  his  praises  in  season  and  out  of  season. 

So  it  is  with  us  in  our  devotion  to  Mary.  If  we  love  her  better 
and  honor  her  more  than  the  rest  of  the  world,  it  is  because  we  know 
her  more  intimately.  From  the  depths  of  our  souls  we  pity  those 
who  know  her  not.  And  we  can  do  nothing  better  in  the  order  of 
our  honoring  her,  especially  in  the  mystery  of  her  Immaculate  Con- 
ception; than  to  enlighten  our  faith,  to  strengthen  and  deepen  our 
convictions  concerning  this  great  mystery. 

In  order  then  that  the  fire  of  our  devotion  may  burn  brightly 
in  honor  of  the  Immaculate  Mother,  let  us  feed  it  well  with  the 
fuel  of  intelligent  faith.  The  first  requisite  of  an  intelligent  faith  is 
that  we  understand  distinctly  what  is  the  object  proposed  to  our 
faith,  what  is  meant  among  Catholics  by  the  Immaculate  Concep- 
tion. Much  light  may  be  thrown  on  a  subject  by  first  telling  what  it 
is  not;  this  clears  away  many  false  and  erroneous  notions  that  ob- 
scure the  issue  and  make  understanding  hopeless. 

First  Point. — Now,  in  the  first  place,  let  it  be  our  care  to  distin- 
guish very  clearly  between  two  mysteries  which  are  often  confounded 
and  which  differ  from  each  other  by  the  distance  that  separates  the 
Creator  from  the  creature :  I  mean  the  Immaculate  Conception  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin  and  the  virgin  birth  of  Our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ.  The  one  has  absolutely  nothing  to  do  with  the  other.  That 
Jesus  Christ  was,  in  a  manner  altogether  supernatural,  "conceived  by 
the  Holy  Ghost  and  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,"  is  something  which 
every  thinking  Christian  believes,  and  professes  when  he  recites  the 
Creed.  This  is  the  virgin  birth.  To  breathe  such  a  thing  as  stain  in 
connection  with  the  coming  into  the  world  of  the  Son  of  God,  is  a 
sacrilege  that  amounts  to  a  categorical  denial  of  His  divinity.  Mary's 
part  in  that  mystery  was  that  of  a  woman  chosen  to  be  a  vessel  con- 


I34  THE  CREED. 

taining  the  Holy  of  Holies ;  in  this  mystery  she  becomes  the  mother 
of  God.  But  between  Mary  conceiving  her  Son,  and  Mary  being  her- 
self conceived,  there  is  a  whole  world  of  difference.  It  is  to  this  lat- 
ter fact,  the  mystery  of  her  being  conceived  immaculately  in  the 
womb  of  her  mother  St.  Ann,  that  the  Immaculate  Conception 
refers.  A  whole  generation  separated  these  two  mysteries  in  point 
of  time;  eternity  alone  can  measure  the  quality  that  differentiates 
them  in  point  of  dignity. 

Nor  is  there  any  question  here  of  a  purification  of  Mary  from  a 
stain  once  contracted;  of  guilt  incurred  and  even  immediately 
effaced.  It  is  piously  believed,  without  being  an  article  of  faith,  that 
two  creatures  of  God,  the  Prophet  Daniel  and  John  the  Baptist,  were 
sanctified  in  the  womb  of  their  mothers.  Theirs  was,  therefore,  an 
immaculate  birth,  but  not  an  immaculate  conception,  since  the  first 
moment  of  their  being  found  them  stained  like  all  children  of 
Adam ;  from  which  stain,  however,  they  were,  by  God's  power, 
afterward  cleansed.  But  no  stain  ever  sullied  the  soul  of  Mary ;  she 
is  "our  tainted  nature's  solitary  boast."  Unspotted  from  the  first 
instant  of  her  conception,  she  came  from  the  hand  of  God  as  pure  as 
a  child  from  the  baptismal  fount.  Not  at  her  birth,  but  before  it,  at 
her  very  conception,  at  the  instant  the  soul  was  breathed  into  her 
body,  was  she  made  immaculate. 

Finally,  the  conception  of  Mary  Immaculate  did  not  exclude  all 
human  agency,  all  natural  operation,  as  did  that  of  her  divine  Son. 
Mary's  parents  were  truly  parents  to  her  in  the  obvious  meaning  of 
the  word.  Nor  may  we  pretend  that  the  grace  she  enjoyed  was  any 
more  than  an  exemption,  made  in  view  of  a  future  dignity  that 
precluded  the  very  thought  of  sin,  altogether  undue,  unessential 
to  her  nature.  It  was  a  pure  gift,  raising  her  higher  than  all 
other  creatures,  but  leaving  her  nevertheless  a  pure  creature  with 
an  engrafted  endowment,  "an  unfallen  child  of  Adam."  Nearer 
to  God  than  any  of  us,  she  is  as  far  from  being  divine  as  the 
least  of  us.  She  needed  redemption  like  all  of  us ;  but  whereas 
redemption  is  applied  to  us  by  means  of  Baptism,  it  was  supplied 
to  her  by  anticipation,  at  the  moment  that  she  began  to  exist. 

We  may  not  as  yet  see  clearly  what  is  meant  by  the  mystery  of 
the  Immaculate  Conception,  but  we  hold  these  facts:  it  refers  to 
Mary's  own  conception,  and  not  to  that  of  her  divine  Son;  it  is  a 
privilege  of  absolute  stainlessness,  and  not  a  purification  in  any  sense ; 
it  did  not  change  her  nature  of  creature,  however  similar  it  may 


THE  IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION.  135 

• 

at  first  sight  appear  to  the  unspeakable  privilege  of  the  Saviour's 
taking  on  flesh. 

The  word  "Immaculate"  means  of  course  "without  stain."  Adam, 
it  is  related  in  Holy  Writ,  sinned.  A  stain  followed  that  sinning, 
a  stain  bequeathed  to  all  his  descendants.  In  us,  his  children,  this 
is  original  sin.  It  consists  substantially  in  the  deprival  of  the  grace 
or  friendship  of  God  and  the  consequent  forfeiture  of  the  right  to 
heaven.  Every  child  of  Adam  participates  in  that  guilt  and  stain 
and  comes  into  the  world  a  child  of  wrath.  All  Christians  admit 
this  teaching;  and  so  truly  is  it  a  belief  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion that  to  deny  it  is  to  do  away  with  all  necessity  for  Christ's 
coming  down  to  earth.  His  mission  consisted  in  taking  up  the  con- 
demnatory decree  made  out  against  the  whole  race  of  man,  nailing 
it  to  the  Cross  and  effacing  the  sentence  with  His  blood. 

Now,  Mary,  we  believe,  is  the  sole  exception  to  the  universal  law 
of  inherited  sin;  she  alone  of  all  creatures  escaped  the  curse  of  the 
fall.  By  virtue  of  her  future  dignity  she  was  exempt  from  the  stain 
that  sullies  all  flesh  and  knew  not  the  forfeiture  of  that  right  which 
we  all  labor  under  until  relieved  by  the  saving  grace  of  Baptism. 
This  is  her  privilege. 

This  mystery,  then,  we  believe;  not  only  that,  but!  we  love  to 
believe  it,  love  to  show  our  belief  in  many  ways.  If  the  Almighty 
made  her  the  admirable  creature  that  she  is,  lavished  upon  her  his 
choicest  gifts  and  spared  her  the  misery  of  our  accursed  inheritance, 
we  can  but  rejoice  and  congratulate  her  on  having  found  grace  in 
the  eyes  of  her  Creator.  And  if  God,  Who  is  admirable  in  all  His 
ways,  is  honored  in  His  works,  scarcely  can  we  honor  Him  more 
than  by  doing  homage  to  this  masterpiece  of  His  omnipotence. 

Second  Point. — Another  requisite  of  an  intelligent  faith  is  that  we 
possess  good  and  sufficient  reason  for  the  faith  that  is  in  us;  that 
we  be  convinced,  intellectually  satisfied  to  receive  and  assent  to 
the  truths  we  hold.  Now,  what  shall  we  say,  in  the  first  instance, 
of  our  faith  in  this  matter;  what  is  the  immediate  reason  of  our 
belief  in  this  mystery  ? 

The  peculiarity  of  our  faith  is  that  it  comes,  as  St.  Paul  says  it 
should  come,  by  hearing;  and  our  hearing  is  of  the  Word  of  God. 
What  Word  of  God,  since  conflicting  claims  are  made  to  its  pos- 
session? The  Word  of  God  properly,  authoritatively,  infallibly  in- 
terpreted. And  what  is  this  authority,  this  infallible  guide?  The 
Church,  sent  and  commissioned  to  teach  all  nations  concerning  God 


I36 


THE  CREED. 


and  the  things  that  pertain  to  Him — to  which  if  any  man  hearken 
not,  he  is,  on  the  word  of  Christ  Himself,  to  be  classed  among 
heathens  and  publicans.  A  teacher  then  did  God  establish;  she 
has  spoken,  and  her  voice  has  been  heard,  in  no  uncertain  accents, 
in  relation  to  this  mystery.  She  has  proclaimed  it  as  a  revealed  truth 
that  Mary  was  conceived  free  from  the  guilt  of  original  sin  and 
this  immunity  is  her  Immaculate  Conception.  For  Catholic  believers 
this  is  the  immediate  reason  for  belief;  it  is  sufficient;  it  may  even 
be  said  to  be  necessary  for  any  intelligent  belief.  If  a  man  may  rea~ 
sonably  believe — and  does  so  believe — that  a  teacher  can  not  lead 
him  into  error,  he  is  the  most  unreasonable  of  creatures  if  he  will 
not  accept  her  teaching,  or  even  hesitates  about  receiving  it.  The 
infallible  mouthpiece  of  the  infallible  Church  has  uttered  its  defini- 
tion; on  this  solid  ground,  on  the  unimpeachable  authority  of  that 
voice,  we  assent  to  the  truth,  and  repeat  that  it  is  true  that  Mary 
was  conceived  Immaculate.  Having  then  heard  this  Word  of  God, 
feeling  secure  of  the  truth  which,  through  its  supernatural  pro- 
nouncement, we  possess,  we  may  legitimately  go  farther  and 
inquire  into  more  remote  motives  of  credibility.  In  this  regard 
let  us  remember  that,  although  the  Church,  when  speaking  infal- 
libly through  her  councils  or  by  her  pontiffs,  bases  her  claim  to 
unerring  veracity  on  the  fact  of  Christ's  promise  to  be  ever  with 
her;  yet,  because  she  must  employ  every  human  means  for  ascer- 
taining the  truth,  the  force  of  her  utterances  lies,  from  a  human 
standpoint,  in  her  expressing  officially,  and  giving  the  weight  of  her 
authority  to,  the  belief,  teaching  and  practice — constant  and  uni- 
versal— of  the  Church  during  the  ages.  Scripture  may  but  enunciate 
vaguely  a  truth,  may  but  outline  it  faintly,  shadow  and  typify  it; 
yet,  if  the  Christian  sense  within  the  Church,  guided  by  the  Holy 
Spirit,  seizes  upon  this  bud  of  revealed  doctrine,  and  in  belief  and 
teaching  makes  it  bloom  forth  and  blossom,  it  is  for  us  as  surely  a 
flower  of  religious  truth  as  if  we  culled  it  full  blown  from  the 
pages  of  Holy  Writ.  For  the  voice  of  God  is  in  the  unwritten,  as 
well  as  in  the  written,  Word;  tradition  is  as  truly  for  us  a  channel 
of  revelation  as  Scripture.  And  so  we  shall  find  a  reason  for  our 
faith  in  the  mystery  of  the  Immaculate  Conception,  if  we  listen 
to  the  praises  of  Mary  sung  in  all  the  ages  of  Christianity,  if  we 
see  her  exalted,  magnified,  glorified  above  and  beyond  every  other 
merely  human  creature.  Hearkening  then  to  the  symphony  of 
Mary's  praises  that  ring  down  the  centuries:  we  discover,  as  the 


THE  IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION. 


'37 


Church  has  discovered,  that  they  mean  nothing  if  not  that  she  re- 
mained untouched  by  the  universal  contagion  of  Adam's  sin;  we 
find  this  belief  obtaining  from  the  first  dawn  of  Christianity,  con- 
stant, world-wide,  approved,  encouraged,  practised,  loved. 

To  get  at  the  first  note  of  the  concert  in  honor  of  Mary's  unspotted 
birthright,  we  must  vault  over  the  space  of  thousands  of  years  and 
come  in  memory  to  the  very  first  days  of  the  creation.  It  began 
while  Adam  yet  lay  prone  under  the  curse  of  God,  and  Eve,  his 
co-worker  in  evil,  shared  beside  him  the  weight  of  divine  wrath. 
Darkly,  but  not  too  darkly  for  the  Christian  faith  to  perceive  it, 
Mary's  privilege  was  announced  then  and  there.  "I  will  put  enmi- 
ties between  thee  and  the  woman,  said  God  to  the  serpent,  and  thy 
seed  and  her  seed:  she  shall  crush  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  lay  in 
wait  for  her  heel."  A  woman  then,  either  in  herself  or  in  her  seed 
or  offspringt  shall  co-operate  in  the  undoing  of  this  nefarious  scheme 
of  evil,  even  as  Eve  had  co-operated  in  the  doing.  A  second  Eve 
shall  come.  The  prophecy  was  fulfilled  of  course.  Christ  redeemed 
man  from  the  effects  of  the  fall.  But  one  co-operated  with  Him  in 
a  certain  sense;  a  woman  gave  Him  birth.  A  parallel  sug- 
gested itself  naturally  between  Mary  and  Eve.  The  Fathers 
called  her  the  new  Eve.  Here  at  least  is  the  root  of  the  tradition  of 
which  we  have  spoken.  The  early  Fathers  called  her  the  new  Eve, 
not  in  one  place  but  in  every  center  of  religious  teaching,  with  an 
accord  and  sameness  which  nothing  but  a  common  source  can  ac- 
count for;  they  repeat  it  almost  monotonously.  The  succeeding 
ages  took  up  the  strain,  knew  Mary  as  such  and  believed  in  her.  Cen- 
tury answered  century  in  unbroken  harmony.  Rare  denials  served 
but  to  reveal  the  general  nature  and  depth  of  the  belief.  Time 
strengthened  it.  Never  was  a  title  more  completely  won  than  that 
of  the  second  Eve  to  Mary,  with  all  that  it  implied. 

And  what  does  it'  imply,  you  ask.  Well,  it  implies  that  if  Mary  is 
another  Eve,  is  similar  to  her  in  anything,  it  must  be  in  her  origin, 
since  it  could  not  be  in  her  sin.  There  is  nothing  else  on  which  to 
base  a  resemblance.  And  the  origin  of  Eve,  was  it  not  immacu- 
late? No  sin,  no  stain  here.  She  came  from  the  hand  of  God  an 
object  pleasing  to  Him;  "she  was  taken  from  Adam's  side,  in  a 
garment,  so  to  say,  of  grace."  She  was  as  yet  unfallen  and  in  full 
possession  of  her  right  to  heaven.  This  is  the  resemblance  the 
Christian  sense  perceived  between  Eve  and  Mary,  this  the  parallel 
the  Fathers  draw  and  dwell  upon,  with  a  unanimity  and  persistence 


'38 


THE  CREED. 


most  remarkable.  Mary  was  the  only  woman  clean,  spotless  from 
the  beginning;  to  find  her  equal  in  this  respect  one  had  to  go  back 
to  the  first  woman.  Eve;  therefore  is  Mary  the  second  Eve.  And 
this,  if  it  is  not  for  Mary  a  clear,  unequivocal  declaration  of  her 
Immaculate  Conception,  then  what  is  it?  What  other  inference  is 
possible ! 

The  burden  of  Catholic  teaching  concerning  the  mother  of  God, 
in  every  age  and  in  every  place,  clear  and  bright  on  the  pages  of 
history,  is  this :  Mary  is  not,  in  any  possible  sense,  a  divine  person ; 
nothing  may  be  said  of  her  that  is  repugnant  to  reason  or  contrary  to 
Scripture;  with  these  restrictions,  say  of  her  holiness  and  sanctity 
what  you  will,  you  can  never  do  her  full  justice.  But  mention  not 
sin  in  the  same  breath  with  that  holy  name.  Her  immaculate  purity 
dates  from  the  first  instant  of  her  being ;  in  this  she  is  the  new  Eve. 
If  the  whole  Church  taught  and  believed  this  doctrine  from  Apostolic 
times,  then  the  whole  Church  taught  and  believed  the  mystery  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception.  And  if  the  Holy  Ghost  is  ever  with  the 
Church,  then  this  doctrine  is  true.  And  since  it  could  be  known  only 
by  revelation,  then  it  is  revealed.  Being  a  revealed  truth,  the 
Church  had  only  to  put  upon  it  the  stamp  of  her  approbation  and 
define  it  officially  as  an  article  of  faith  to  make  its  acceptance  bind- 
ing on  the  conscience  of  all  the  faithful.  This  she  has  done.  On 
a  memorable  day,  fifty-two  years  ago,  amid  the  acclamations  of 
joy  of  the  entire  Catholic  world,  Pius  the  Ninth,  speaking  as  the 
Vicar  of  Christ  on  earth,  after  rehearsing  this  proof  of  tradition 
as  sufficient  ground  for  believing  it  a  truth,  declared  the  Immacu- 
late Conception  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  a  dogma  of  faith. 

And  indeed  it  is  difficult  to  understand  how  deep  Christian  senti- 
ment, familiar  with  the  fundamental  truths  of  religion,  touched  by 
the  grace  of  the  supernatural,  endowed  with  that  delicacy  of  piety 
that  comes  from  the  very  well  springs  of  faith,  can  even  for  a 
moment  brook  the  idea  of  sin  in  the  Mother  of  God.  It  reasons  after 
this  fashion.  The  Creator  determined  to  send  His  divine  Son  to 
earth.  He  chose  the  path  of  the  flesh,  elected  to  be  born  of  a  woman. 
The  channel  was  universally  polluted;  yet  it  was  the  only  natural 
way.  Now,  if  God  could,  and  why  could  He  not,  since  He  is  all- 
powerful  and  the  law  is  of  His  own  making ;  if  He  would,  and  why 
would  He  not,  since  sin  is  the  one  thing  He  must  necessarily  hate  in 
itself:  if  He  could  and  would  make  that  way  clean  over  which  He 
was  to  enter  into  the  world  then  is  Mary  Immaculate.  The  law 


THE  IMMACULATE  CONCEPTION.  139 

is  universal;  but  it  is  the  prerogative  of  every  law-giver  to  be 
exempt  from  his  own  laws;  it  is  the  nature  of  every  law  to  admit 
exceptions.  He  could  not  associate  Himself,  even  remotely,  with 
sin  in  any  form.  And  what  closer  association  can  be  imagined  than 
the  union  of  mother  and  child !  How  could  the  Holy  of  Holies  bring 
Himself  to  descend  into,  to  take  up  His  abode  for  many  months  in 
the  womb  of  one  who  had  been  tainted  by  sin,  an  impure  vessel, 
upon  whom  His  own  curse  had  rested,  a  child  of  wrath !  Let  those 
who  pretend  to  be  able  to  do  so,  explain  it.  Catholic  piety  refuses 
to  entertain  the  idea,  recoils  from  the  very  thought  of  it,  as  from 
something  repugnant  to  the  instinctive  sentiment  of  faith.  The 
spouse  of  the  Father,  the  mother  of  the  Son,  the  temple  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  Mary  was  all  this;  either  God  had  renounced  His  old-time 
hatred  of  sin  or  she  never  knew  the  curse  of  it's  baneful  touch.  Full 
of  grace  was  she  from  the  beginning,  else  she  had  not  been  found 
worthy  to  come  into  such  close,  intimate  relations  with  the  Godhead. 
Conclusion. — This  then  is,  briefly,  our  faith  and  the  reasons  of 
our  faith  in  the  mystery,  beautiful  beyond  measure,  of  Mary's  Im- 
maculate Conception.  Let  us  glorify  her  for  the  unspeakable  favor 
which  the  Almighty  was  pleased  to  confer  upon  her ;  and  see  in  her 
entrancing  spotlessness  an  ideal  to  which  we  should  strive  to  con- 
form our  lives.  Let  us  honor  her,  and  thus  secure  unto  ourselves 
the  grace  of  her  powerful  intercession.  Let  us  honor  her,  and 
thereby  honor  Him  who  made  her — the  daughter  who,  among  the 
many  that  have  gathered  together  riches,  surpasses  them  all. 


I4o  THE  CREED. 


XVI.    CHRIST,  THE  TRUE  MESSIAS. 

BY  THE  REV.  BERTRAND  L.  CONWAY,  C.S.P. 

SYNOPSIS. — Introduction. — The  denial  of  the  rationalistic  critics  that  Jesus 
claimed  to  be  the  Christ.  The  Jewish  concept  of  the  Messias.  The 
Christian  concept.  The  witness  of  John  the  Baptist.  The  temptation. 
Jesus'  manifestation  of  Himself  at  first  indirect  and  obscure.  Why  did 
Jesus  forbid  the  demons  to  declare  Him  Messias ?  (i)  To  guard  against 
the  popular  enthusiasm;  (z)  to  offset  the  hatred  of  the  Pharisees.  He 
preaches  the  gospel  of  the  Messianic  Kingdom.  He  insinuates  his  Messias- 
ship  by,  (a)  His  divine  authority  in  teaching;  (6)  His  miracles;  (c)  His 
claim  to  divine  prerogatives  and  powers.  His  explicit  witness  to  the 
disciples  of  John.  The  testimony  of  his  friends,  Andrew,  Philip,  Na- 
thaniel, and  Peter.  His  Messiasship  of  suffering  and  of  triumph.  The 
witness  of  the  transfiguration.  The  Messianic  triumph  of  Palm  Sunday. 
The  last  testimony  before  Caiphas. 

Peroration. — We  should  know  these  testaments  so  as  to  present  them 
to  orthodox  Jews  who  are  still  looking  for  the  Messias  to  come. 

It  has  often  been  stated,  beloved  brethren,  by  the  rationalistic  critics 
and  broadchurchmen  of  to-day  who  deny  the  divinity  of  Christ,  that 
never  once  during  His  public  ministry  did  our  Saviour  declare 
Himself  to  be  the  true  Messias.  Theory  after  theory  has  been  de- 
vised to  uphold  this  contention.  Some  have  denied  the  historical 
character  of  the  Messianic  utterances  of  the  gospels;  others  have 
appealed  confidently  to  the  supposed  denials  of  our  Saviour;  others 
have  insisted  on  the  stupidity  of  the  apostles  who  failed  to  under- 
stand their  Master's  message;  others  have  imagined  a  Messianic 
legend  framed  by  the  first  enthusiastic  preachers  of  the  resurrec- 
tion. It  is  not  our  purpose,  beloved  brethren,  to  discuss  these  views 
of  the  modern  unbeliever.  But  in  view  of  the  fact  that  these  theo- 
ries are  being  voiced  to-day  in  trie  popular  magazines  and  news- 
papers, it  is  good  for  us  to  consider  briefly  the  true  witness  of  the 
gospels  to  Jesus,  the  Messias. 

Nothing  is  clearer  in  the  gospels  than  the  fact  that  the  Jews  in 
the  time  of  Our  Lord  were  ardently  longing  for  the  coming  of  the 
King  of  Israel,  the  Messias.  Most  of  the  people  had  lost  sight  of 
Isaias,  Man  of  Sorrows,  who  was  to  govern  a  universal  spiritual 
kingdom.  They  rather  looked  forward  to  a  powerful  king, 
who  with  and  under  Jehovah  would  reign  supreme  over  all  the  kings 


CHRIST,   THE  NEW  MESSIAS.  141 

and  nations  of  the  earth.  He  was  to  appear  before  the  people  with 
the  evident  stamp  of  God's  approval  to  inaugurate  a  new,  eternal 
kingdom,  "high  above  the  kings  of  the  earth"  (Ps.  Ixxxviii,  28). 
He  was  to  crush  all  the  enemies  of  Israel,  free  them  from  the  galling 
yoke  of  the  Romans,  and  make  the  Jewish  people  the  Lords  of  all 
the  world.  "In  him  shall  all  the  tribes  of  the  earth  be  blessed.  All 
the  nations  shall  magnify  him"  (Ps.  Ixxi,  17).  Every  one  of  Israel's 
prophets  had  pointed  to  Him;  every  one  of  Israel's  righteous  kings 
had  foreshadowed  Him;  every  one  of  Israel's  priests  had  offered 
sacrifices  for  His  coming.  He  was  to  be  their  great  prophet,  priest 
and  king. 

The  Christian  Messias,  as  witnessed  to  in  the  gospels,  was  in  very 
truth  a  prophet,  priest  and  king.  He  came  indeed  to  found  a  new 
eternal  kingdom,  but  a  spiritual,  not  a  political,  one.  "My  kingdom 
is  not  of  this  world"  (Jo.  xviii,  36).  Even  the  apostles  found  this 
a  hard  lesson  to  learn,  for  even  on  the  very  morning  of  the  Ascension 
they  asked  the  risen  Jesus:  "Lord,  wilt  thou  at  this  time  restore 
again  the  kingdom  of  Israel"  (Acts  i,  6). 

He  was  to  be  a  triumphant  king  indeed,  but  His  triumph  was  to 
be  gained  by  the  apparent  failure  of  the  Cross.  He  had  told  His 
followers  frequently  that  He  was  the  suffering  Messias,  but  the 
words  of  the  two  disciples  on  the  road  to  Emmaus  prove  to  us  how 
hard  this  was  to  believe  (Luke  xxiv,  21). 

There  is  no  doubt  whatever  that  John  the  Baptist  taught  the 
people  in  the  country  about  the  Jordan  that  Jesus  was  the  Messias. 
Attracted  by  John's  marvelous  preaching,  and  won  by  his  austere 
life,  they  at  first  thought  him  the  expected  Christ.  But  he  instantly 
denied  it,  declaring  that  he  was  only  the  forerunner  of  the  Messianic 
kingdom  which  was  at  hand  (Luke  iii,  I,  15 ;  Matt,  iii,  2).  He  told 
them  plainly  that  Jesus,  the  founder  of  that  kingdom,  is  one  "mightier 
than  I,  the  latchet  of  whose  shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  stoop  down 
and  loose.  I  have  baptized  you  with  water,  but  He  shall  baptize 
you  with  the  Holy  Ghost"  (Mark  i,  7,  8;  Matt,  iii,  12). 

These  words  of  the  Baptist  prepare  us  for  the  miracles  wrought 
at  the  baptism  of  Jesus,  whose  Messianic  bearing  is  most  evident. 
In  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth,  Jesus  Himself  tells  us  that  the  Holy 
Spirit  anointed  Him  at  His  symbolic  baptism,  and  publicly  conse- 
crated Him  to  the  divine  office  of  the  Messias.  "The  spirit  of  the 
Lord  is  upon  me.  Wherefore  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the 
gospel  to  the  poor;  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  contrite  of  heart" 


I42  THE  CREED. 

(Luke  iv,  18).  Jehovah,  His  heavenly  Father,  declared  from  on  high 
that  He  was  the  Messias :  "This  is  my  beloved  Son,  in  whom  I  am 
well  pleased"  (Matt,  iii,  17).  St.  Matthew  makes  this  very  clear  to 
us  when  he  applies  to  Jesus  the  words  of  Isaias,  who  proclaimed 
our  Saviour  well  pleasing  to  His  Father  because  of  His  Messianic 
office:  "Behold  my  servant  whom  I  have  chosen,  my  beloved  in 
whom  my  soul  hath  been  well  pleased.  I  will  put  my  spirit  upon 
him,  and  he  shall  show  judgment  to  the  Gentiles"  (Matt,  xii,  18). 
St.  Peter  later  on  declares  to  the  centurion  Cornelius  the  Messianic 
character  of  Christ's  baptism :  "You  know  .  .  .  Jesus  of  Naz- 
areth, how  God  anointed  him  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  power, 
who  went  about  doing  good,  and  healing  all  that  were  oppressed, 
for  God  was  with  him"  (Acts  x,  38). 

From  the  banks  of  the  Jordan,  "Jesus  was  led  by  the  spirit  into 
the  desert  to  be  tempted  by  the  devil"  ( Matt,  iv,  i ) .  The  threefold 
temptation  of  Christ  is  clearly  a  revelation  of  His  Messiasship.  Satan 
through  the  keenness  of  his  intellect,  evidently  suspects  that  Jesus 
is  the  promised  Messias,  for  he  greets  him  with  the  title  of,  "Son 
of  God"  (Matt,  iv,  3).  Satan  well  knew  that  the  Messias  was  to 
possess  a  great  power  of  working  miracles,  so  he  demands  of  Christ 
"that  these  stones  be  made  bread,"  and  "that  he  cast  himself  down 
from  the  pinnacle  of  the  temple."  He  further  knew  that  the  Messias 
was  to  be  the  king  of  all  the  nations,  so  he  proposes  to  him  this  uni- 
versal royalty  to  see  whether  or  not  our  Saviour  would  declare  that 
he  already  possessed  it.  (Matt,  iv,  3,  6,  9).  Jesus  rebukes  Satan 
without,  however,  in  the  slightest  degree,  waiving  his  claim  to  the 
title  of  Messias  or  Son  of  God. 

From  the  very  outset  of  His  public  ministry  Jesus  proclaimed 
Himself  by  word  and  work  to  be  the  true  Messias.  It  is,  of  course, 
certain  that  this  manifestation  of  Himself  became  clearer  and  more 
direct  as  His  ministry  neared  its  close,  but  there  were  good  reasons 
for  this. 

His  work  in  Galilee  would  have  been  seriously  impeded,  if  he  had 
allowed  the  people  to  regard  Him  as  their  Messias,  according  to  the 
current  view  of  the  day.  We  all  remember  the  popular  excitement  at 
the  sight  of  the  miracle  of  the  loaves  and  fishes.  The  people  asso- 
ciated the  Messias  with  the  fulfilment  of  all  the  national  hopes,  and 
crying  out:  "This  is  of  a  truth  the  prophet,  that  is  come  into  the 
world"  (Job  vi,  14).  They  at  once  desired  "to  take  him  by  force 
and  make  him  king,"  in  face  of  the  Roman  power. 


CHRIST,   THE  NEW  MESSIAS.  143 

It  was  to  guard  against  this  popular  enthusiasm,  and  not  to  gain- 
say in  any  way  His  belief  in  His  own  Messiaship  that  our  Saviour 
forbade  the  open  recognition  of  it  by  those  whom  he  cured  of  demon 
possession.  The  demons  knew  Him  as  "the  Christ,"  "the  Holy  One 
of  God,"  "the  Son  of  God,"  the  "Son  of  the  Most  High  God,"  come 
to  torment  and  destroy  them"  (Luke  iv,  41,  Matt,  viii,  29;  Mark  i, 
24,  25,  34;  Mark  iii,  12,  5,  7). 

Our  Saviour  acted  in  the  same  way  with  regard  to  many  of  the 
miracles  He  wrought.  When  He  healed  the  leper  He  said  to  him: 
"See  thou  tell  no  man"  (Mark  i,  44)  ;  and  in  raising  the  daughter 
of  Jairus,  "he  charged  them  strictly  that  no  man  should  know  it" 
(Mark  v,  43;  Cf.  Matt,  ix,  30;  Mark  vii,  36;  viii,  26).  This  by 
no  means  implied  any  denial  on  His  part  of  the  miracles  He 
wrought.  But  He  knew  full  well  the  evil  dispositions  of  many  of 
His  enemies.  Had  not  Corozain,  Bethsaida,  Capharnaum  and  even 
Nazareth  refused  to  hearken  to  His  preaching,  and  attributed  His 
miracles  to  Beelzebub? 

Where  the  influence  of  the  Pharisees  was  practically  powerless  as 
at  Gerasa  in  the  Decapolis,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Lake  of 
Genesareth,  He  told  the  man  He  had  cured  to  tell  His  friends  "the 
great  things  the  Lord  had  done  for  him"  (Mark  v,  19).  So  in 
Samaria,  where  the  same  conditions  prevailed,  our  Saviour  found  no 
difficulty  in  proclaiming  His  Messiasship  to  the  sinful  woman  of 
Sichar  (John  iv,  26). 

Instead,  therefore,  of  declaring  directly  and  explicitly  that  He  was 
the  Messias,  our  Saviour  at  first  preferred  to  manifest  Himself  in- 
directly by  His  words  and  miracles,  thus  gradually  destroying  in  the 
minds  of  the  people  their  false  view  of  a  political  Messias,  and  pre- 
paring His  chosen  ones  for  the  spiritual  Messias,  who  as  Son  of 
God  and  Son  of  Man  was  to  die  on  the  Cross  for  man's  salvation. 

The  "gospel  or  good  news  of  the  kingdom"  was  the  subject  of 
His  discourses  in  the  cities  and  synagogues  of  Galilee  (Matt,  iv,  23; 
ix,  35 ;  Luke  viii,  i ;  ix,  1 1 ) ,  and  the  theme  of  the  beautiful  sermon 
on  the  mount  (Matt,  vi,  33),  and  the  parables  at  the  lakeside 
(Mark  iv,  n,  26,  30).  As  the  Lord  of  the  kingdom,  he  chooses  its 
preachers,  and  invests  them  with  His  own  divine  authority  (Matt. 
x,  7;  Mark  iii,  14;  Luke  x,  9).  Unlike  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees, 
He  teaches  as  one  having  authority  (Matt,  v,  22,  44;  vii,  29),  cor- 
recting their  false  human  traditions,  giving  a  new  authoritative  in- 
terpretation to  the  law  of  Sinai,  and  so  perfecting  it  that  the  people. 


144 


THE  CREED. 


"were  astonished  at  his  doctrine"  (Mark  i,  22).  What  made  them 
marvel  the  more,  and  made  them  believe  that  Jesus  was  the  Messias 
of  their  people,  was  the  fact  that  He  was  looked  upon  as  a  carpen- 
ter's son  from  the  despised  Nazareth  of  Galilee,  and  a  teacher  who 
had  never  studied  (Mark  vi,  2,  3, ;  John  i,  46 ;  vii,  52 ;  vii,  15) . 

Again  the  miracles  our  Saviour  wrought  prepared  the  people  for 
His  final  explicit  revelation  of  His  Messiasship.  He  commanded 
the  winds  and  the  waves  (Mark  iv,  35-50),  He  healed  the  sick 
(Mark  i,  31),  He  drove  demons  from  the  possessed  (Mark  i,  23), 
He  cleansed  the  lepers  (Mark  i,  42),  He  raised  the  dead  (Mark 
v,  42).  No  wonder  the  people  cried  out:  "What  is  this  new  doc- 
trine? for  with  power  He  commandeth  the  unclean  spirits"  (Mark 
i,  27).  "Who  is  this  that  both  wind  and  sea  obey  Him?"  (iv,  40). 
Surely  "a  great  prophet  is  risen  up  amongst  us"  (Luke  vii,  16). 

Moreover,  this  humble  Jesus,  the  friend  of  the  lowly  and  sinners, 
tells  the  people  continually  that  He  is  greater  than  any  of  their 
prophets — greater  than  Jonas,  Solomon,  or  the  Baptist  (Matt,  xii,  41, 
42;  xi,  9).  He  claims  the  prerogatives  of  Jehovah.  He  acts  as 
master  of  the  Sabbath,  healing  the  paralytic  and  allowing  His  disci- 
ples to  pluck  the  ears  of  corn  on  that  day  (Mark  iii,  1-6;  ii,  23).  And 
when  the  Pharisees  object,  He  declares  Himself  "greater  than  the 
temple,"  and  Lord  of  the  Sabbath  (Matt,  xii,  5-8).  He  pardons  the 
paralytic  his  sins,  and  when  His  authority  is  gainsaid  by  His  ene- 
mies, He  works  a  miracle  to  prove  it  (Mark  ii,  1-12).  At  the  house 
of  Simon,  He  receives  back  the  penitent  Magdalene,  to  the  disgust 
of  the  strait-laced,  hypocritical  upholders  of  the  law  (Luke  vii, 
36-50).  He  gives  His  disciples  the  power  to  work  miracles,  which 
they  exercise  in  His  name  (Mark  iii,  15). 

But  not  only  did  our  Saviour  insinuate  His  Messiasship  by  His 
authoritative  teaching,  His  miracles,  and  His  claim  to  divine  powers, 
but  He  more  than  once  asserted  it  Himself,  or  allowed  His  friends  to 
do  so. 

When,  for  instance,  the  disciples  of  John  asked  Him  whether  He 
was  the  Messias  (Matt,  xi,  3),  He  answered  them  by  quoting  the 
words  which  the  prophet  Isaias  had  used  long  before  to  indicate 
the  Christ  (Is.  xxxv,  5 ;  Ixi,  i).  "Go,"  He  said  to  them,  "and  relate 
to  John  what  you  have  heard  and  seen.  The  blind  see,  the  lame  walk, 
the  lepers  are  cleansed,  the  deaf  hear,  the  dead  rise  again,  the  poor 
have  the  gospel  preached  to  them"  (Matt,  xi,  4-5).  Again  in  prais- 
ing John  to  the  people  after  the  disciples  had  departed,  He  praises 


CHRIST,   THE  NEW  MESSIAS.  145 

him  solely  on  account  of  his  being  the  precursor  of  Himself,  the 
true  Messias  (Matt,  xi,  10). 

The  first  words  of  Andrew  to  his  brother  Simon  to  win  him  to 
Our  Lord  were:  "We  have  found  the  Messias,  which  is,  being  in- 
terpreted, the  Christ"  (Jo.  i,  41).  And  Philip  says  to  his  friend 
Nathaniel :  "We  have  found  him  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law  and  the 
prophets  did  write"  (Jo.  i,  45).  Later  on  Nathaniel  talking  to  Jesus 
acknowledges  his  claim :  "Rabbi,  thou  art  the  Son  of  God,  thou  art 
the  king  of  Israel"  (Jo.  i,  49). 

Still  more  explicit  is  the  testimony  of  Peter  near  the  town  of 
Caesarea  Philippi.  Our  Saviour  had  asked  the  apostles  a  direct 
question :  "But  whom  do  you  say  that  I  am."  Simon  Peter  answered 
and  said:  "Thou  art  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God"  (Matt,  xvi, 
1 6).  It  was  a  time  most  fitting  such  a  clear  explicit  acknowledgment 
of  Christ's  divinity  and  Messiasship.  The  ministry  in  Galilee  was 
drawing  to  a  close ;  they  were  about  to  journey  to  Jerusalem  where 
Jesus  was  fully  aware  that  the  Cross  awaited  Him. 

This  testimony  is  made  all  the  more  striking  inasmuch  as  Jesus 
declares  it  proceeds  from  a  divine  revelation:  "Blessed  art  thou, 
Simon  Bar-Jona ;  because  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  to  thee, 
but  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven"  (Matt,  xvi,  17). 

It  moreover  is  confirmed  by  the  witness  of  His  heavenly  Father  at 
the  transfiguration.  As  at  the  Jordan  baptism,  a  voice  came  out  of 
the  cloud  saying:  "This  is  my  most  beloved  Son,  hear  ye  Him." 
Moses  and  Elias  appeared  as  representatives  of  the  law  and  the 
prophets,  giving  their  homage  to  Jesus  as  the  founder  of  the  New 
Covenant,  the  fulfilment  of  the  Old.  The  glory  of  Jesus,  "whose  gar- 
ments became  shining  and  exceeding  white  as  snow"  (Mark  ix,  1-7), 
gave  the  three  apostles  a  foretaste  of  the  glory  of  the  triumphant 
Messias. 

During  this  last  year,  our  Saviour  frequently  insists  on  this  future 
triumph.  "For  the  Son  of  man  shall  come  in  the  glory  of  his  Father 
with  his  angels"  (Matt,  xvi,  26).  "And  when  the  Son  of  Man  shall 
come  in  his  majesty,  and  all  the  angels  with  him,  then  shall  he  sit 
upon  the  seat  of  his  majesty.  And  all  nations  shall  be  gathered 
before  him"  (Matt,  xxvi,  31-32). 

And  yet  continually  He  tries  to  impress  upon  their  minds  that 
He  is  the  Man  of  Sorrows  foretold  by  Isaias,  "who  is  come  to  give 
his  life  a  redemption  for  many"  (Mark  x,  45),  "who  is  to  suffer 
and  to  be  rejected  by  this  generation"  (Luke  xvii,  25). 


146  THE  CREED. 

On  His  entry  into  Jerusalem  the  people  made  a  great  public 
demonstration  in  acknowledgment  of  Jesus  the  Messias,  to  the  great 
anger  of  the  Pharisees.  They  cut  down  boughs  from  the  trees, 
strewed  their  garments  in  the  way,  and  shouted :  "Hosanna,  blessed 
is  he  that  cometh  in  the  name  of  the  Lord.  Blessed  be  the  kingdom 
of  our  father  David  that  cometh,"  "Blessed  be  the  king  who  cometh 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord"  (Mark  xi,  8-10;  Luke  xix,  38).  Jesus  ac- 
cepted this  homage  without  a  word  of  disapproval.  The  Pharisees 
came  to  Him  and  demanded  that  He  rebuke  His  disciples  for  their 
Messianic  feelings.  But  instead  of  doing  so,  Our  Lord  said  to  them : 
"I  say  to  you,  that  if  these  shall  hold  their  peace,  the  stones  will  cry 
out"  (Luke  xix,  40). 

The  last  testimony  of  our  Saviour  to  His  Messiasship  was  made 
before  the  high  priest,  and  sealed  the  sentence  of  death  upon  Him. 
"Art  thou  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Blessed  God,"  he  was  asked. 
And  Jesus  said  to  him:  "I  am,  and  you  shall  see  the  Son  of  Man 
sitting  on  the  right  hand  of  the  power  of  God,  and  coming  with 
the  clouds  of  heaven"  (Mark  xiv,  61,  62). 

We  have  thus  in  brief  outline,  beloved  brethren,  sketched  the 
gospel  witness  to  the  Messiasship  of  Jesus  the  Son  of  God.  It  is  im- 
portant for  us  to  know  it  well,  in  view  of  the  modern  denial  of  the 
unbeliever,  and  the  Jevr.  It  may  be  hard  to  convince  the  rational- 
istic critic,  but  at  the  very  least  we  should  know  the  testimony  of 
Jesus  and  His  friends.  I  have  met  on  my  missions  to  non-Catholics, 
men  and  women  of  orthodox  Judaism,  who,  alert  to  know  the  truth 
have  been  won  by  a  prayerful  study  of  these  texts  to  accept  Jesus  as 
the  Son  of  God,  the  Messias  of  their  people.  Some  have  faced 
persecution  as  bitter  as  their  forefathers  faced,  when  they  became 
the  first  followers  of  the  risen  Christ.  Let  our  prayers  go  forth  for 
them  all,  that  they  kneel  down  one  day  with  the  doubting  Thomas, 
crying  out;  "My  Lord,  my  God." 


THE  PASSION  AND  DEATH  OP  OUR  LORD.  I47 

XVII.    THE  PASSION  AND  DEATH  OF  OUR  LORD. 

BY  THE  REV.  WILLIAM   GRAHAM. 

"Suffered  under  Pontius  Pilate,  was  crucified,  dead  and  buried."  "He 
loved  me  and  delivered  himself  for  me." — Gal.  ii,  20. 

SYNOPSIS.— Our  Lord,  central  figure  of  the  four  gospels.  Story  of  His 
Passion  their  main  subject.  St.  John  the  Baptist  and  the  "Lamb  of  God." 
How  this  gentle  Lamb  was  done  to  death  for  sins  of  His  people  forms  the 
drama  of  the  Passion.  Only  devout  believers  in  His  Divinity  realize 
significance  of  Passion.  Cross  is  mark  and  ensign  of  Lamb.  From  it  He 
reigns,  teaches  and  heals.  Brazen  serpent  of  new  dispensation.  Why 
title  surmounting  it  written  in  the  three  great  world-languages  of  day. 
Because  all  true  religion,  culture,  civilization,  and  empire  based  on  it. 
Story  of  Passion  usually  unfolded  in  five  acts,  called  sorrowful  mysteries. 

I.  Passion,   culmination  of  suffering  life.     Way  of  cross  extends 
from   Bethlehem   to   Calvary.      Texts:    "Suffered   under   Tiberius   and 
Pilate.  Dying  embers  of  Jewish  Sovereignty,"  (Gen.  xlix,  10).   Glance  at 
last   journey   to    Jerusalem,   Bethany,    Olivet,   Palm   Sunday.     Passion 
proper  begins  with  agony  in  garden.     Type  of  Eden.     Crushing  of  the 
olive  whence  oil  of  mercy  and  grace.     Depth  of  mental  anguish  that 
wrenched  cry  for  alleviation.    The  bloody  sweat.     Vision  of  sin.    In  the 
hands  of  His  enemies.     The  night  of  horrors.    Judas  and  Peter.     Trial 
before  Sanhedrim.    Pilate  and  Herod. 

II.  Pilate's  weakness  and  inconsistency.    The  scourging.    Its  excess. 
Vision  of  the  Seers.     The  "Ecce  Homo."     Cry  for  blood  and  God's 
answer  to  it.    Our  duty  to  our  thorn-crowned  King.   The  carrying  of  the 
Cross.    The  "via  dolorosa."    Arrival  at  Calvary.     The  raising  up  of  the 
Cross.     The  winepress  and  the  mill.     Cross  is  throne,  pulpit  and  chair. 
The  cry  for  pardon  of  enemies.    The  words  on  the  Cross  and  what  they 
suggest.     Death  on  the  Cross.     Signs.     Birth  of  new  order  of  things. 
Triumph  in  death  for  Jesus  and  us. 

Christ  Our  Lord  is  the  central  figure  of  the  four  gospels,  as  of 
their  summary,  the  creed.  The  gospels,  with  slightly  varying  details, 
tell  the  simple  story  of  His  life  and  the  weird  and  tragic  story  of 
His  death. 

One  day  his  precursor  John,  seeing  the  Redeemer's  meek  and 
gentle  figure  among  the  throng  of  penitent  candidates  for  Baptism, 
exclaimed :  "Behold  the  lamb  of  God,  behold  Him  who  taketh  away 
the  sins  of  the  world."  The  death  story  of  this  speechless  Lamb, 
"holy,  harmless,  undefiled,  separate  from  sinners"  (Heb.  vii,  26), 
forms  the  historical  groundwork  of  the  fourth  article  of  the  creed, 
the  theme  of  my  discourse  to-day. 

It  is  only  the  devout  believer,  verifying  in  the  creed  the  truth  of 


I48  THE  CREED. 

Our  Lord's  real  manhood  and  Godhead,  who  can  grasp  the  mys- 
tery of  the  passion  in  all  its  bearings,  and  realize  the  pathos,  and 
poetry,  and  depth  of  meaning  lying  hid  in  the  story  that  thrills  the 
world.  To  see  in  it  merely  a  miscarriage  of  justice,  an  isolated 
act  of  man's  wrong  to  his  fellowman,  is  to  miss  its  true  signifi- 
cance. No  doubt  it  is  the  story  of  an  innocent  man  wrongly  done 
to  death;  of  a  noble  life,  witnessing  to  the  value  of  principle  and 
self-sacrifice  and  truth  by  a  martyr's  end.  It  is  all  this,  and  more. 
It  is  the  story  of  the  divine  in  the  human — of  God  "emptying  Him- 
self," laying  down  His  human  life,  not  through  compulsion,  or 
necessity,  or  because  it  was  deserved,  or  needed  to  chasten  and 
purify  as  in  the  case  of  the  saints ;  but  offered  up  voluntarily,  in  all 
its  prime  beauty  and  strength,  for  a  race  of  ungrateful,  undeserving, 
and  uninteresting  sinners,  like  ourselves.  "Oblatus  est  quia  ipse 
voluit."  "No  man  taketh  away  my  life;  but  I  lay  it  down  of  my- 
self." No  wonder  it  is  "the  story,  that  moves  the  world." 

The  very  instrument  of  his  death,  sordid  and  loathsome  before, 
now  held  in  highest  honor,  has  grown  into  a  symbol  of  belief,  hope, 
light,  love,  and  healing.  The  Cross  now  is  deemed,  and  rightly 
deemed,  an  altar,  a  book,  and  a  pulpit.  It  is  the  sign  of  "the  lamb 
that  was  slain,"  but  "who  now  lives."  From  it,  in  every  clime,  He 
reigns,  teaches,  and  heals.  It  is  the  symbol  of  His  passion,  the 
rainbow  of  promise  to  a  fallen  race,  restored  to  God.  The  title  it 
bore  when  raised  on  Calvary,  some  nineteen  centuries  ago,  was 
written  in  the  three  great  world-languages  of  that  day,  Hebrew, 
Greek  and  Latin,  indicating,  as  we  see  realized  in  intervening  his- 
tory, that  He  who  was  nailed  to  it  was  King,  i.  e.,  supreme  in  reli- 
gion, the  sphere  of  the  Jew;  in  culture  and  intelligence,  the  re- 
puted sphere  of  the  Greek;  and  in  empire,  authority,  law,  the  realm 
of  the  Latin,  or  Roman.  Away  from  the  Cross  of  Christ,  the  sym- 
bol of  unselfish  love,  the  world  will  yet  find,  to  its  cost,  that  there  is 
no  religion,  no  culture,  no  authority,  worthy  of  the  name.  "God 
forbid  then,  that  I  should  glory  save  in  the  cross  of  Christ  Jesus" 
(Gal.  vi,  14). 

And  now  for  the  story  of  the  Cross,  the  story  of  uic  new  Joseph, 
done  to  death  by  his  own  brethren,  and  cast  into  a  pit,  afterward  to 
rise  from  it,  and  be  their  Lord  and  Saviour.  The  drama  of  the 
Cross,  the  story  of  the  passion  and  death  of  Christ,  is  usually  put 
before  us  in  five  leading  acts,  called  the  five  sorrowful  mysteries — 
each  stirring  the  heart  to  its  depths,  and  helping  us  on  our  own 


THE  PASSION  AND  DEATH  OF  OUR  LORD.  149 

way  to  Calvary  and  Olivet — the  king's  highway,  the  royal  road  of  the 
Cross,  and  the  only  safe  and  sure  road  to  the  end  for  which  we  are 
destined. 

i.  The  five  sorrowful  mysteries,  summing  up  the  passion,  were  but 
the  culmination  of  a  suffering  life.  We  may  say  that  the  way  of  the 
Cross  began  at  Bethlehem,  and  ended  at  Calvary.  In  the  portrait 
drawn  of  him,  by  the  prophet-evangelist  Isaias,  "Beautiful  upon  the 
mountains  were  the  feet  of  him  that  brought  good  tidings"  (Hi,  7), 
yet,  owing  to  his  suffering,  "was  there  no  beauty  in  him,  nor 
comeliness,  despised  was  he,  and  the  most  abject  of  men,  a  man 
of  sorrows  and  acquainted  with  infirmity."  "Surely  he  hath  borne 
our  infirmities,  and  carried  our  sorrows :  and  we  have  thought  him 
as  it  were  a  leper,  and  as  one  struck  by  God  and  afflicted.  He  was 
wounded  for  our  iniquities,  he  was  bruised  for  our  sins:  the  chas- 
tisement of  our  peace  is  upon  him  and  by  his  bruises  we  are  healed" 
(Id.  liii,  3,  4,  5).  God  smote  him  not  for  his  own,  but  "for  the 
wickedness  of  his  people." 

It  was  when  Tiberius  reigned  at  Rome,  and  Pontius  Pilate  gov- 
erned under  him  at  Jerusalem,  just  as  the  last  remnants  of  Juda's 
sovereignty  were  fast  disappearing  (Gen.  xlix,  10),  that  envy  of  the 
king  reached  its  full  height ;  and  His  enemies  sought  to  "deliver  him 
to  the  Gentiles,  to  be  mocked,  and  scourged,  and  crucified"  (Matt. 
xx,  19).  Needless  to  dwell  on  the  momentary  triumphs  that  ushered 
in  His  passion,  when,  as  He  came  down  the  slopes  of  Olivet,  crowds 
surged  out  from  Jerusalem,  cutting  palm  branches  on  the  way,  to 
meet  and  hail  the  "Son  of  David,"  and  welcome  Him  into  His  royal 
city.  Calvary  loomed  in  the  distance.  He  ever  lived  under  the  shadow 
of  the  Cross.  Even  on  Thabor  "where  his  face  did  shine  as  the  sun," 
yet  His  speech  was  not  of  heaven,  but  of  "the  decrease  he  should 
suffer  at  Jerusalem." 

The  first  stage  of  the  passion  proper  begins  with  the  agony  in  the 
garden,  the  "passion  of  the  soul,"  as  it  is  well  called.  Here  agony, 
or  grief  of  soul,  chiefly  reigned.  All  pain  indeed,  strictly  speaking, 
is  mental.  The  mind  creates  for  itself  here,  and  perhaps  in  the  other 
world  too,  heaven,  or  hell.  In  variety,  acuteness,  and  depth,  the 
mental  pains  of  this  passion  far  exceeded  those  of  the  body.  In  the 
garden  of  Eden,  Adam  indulged  in  the  sweet  fruit,  that  brought  bitter 
woes  to  our  race.  Here,  in  this  garden  of  olives,  the  new  Adam 
drinks  the  cup  of  bitterness  to  the  dregs,  to  restore  man  to  his  lost 
privileges.  In  the  deep  shadows  of  Gethsemane,  the  olive  is  to  be 


'5° 


THE  CREED. 


crushed,  whence  should  flow,  in  rich  mystic  streams  for  all  time,  the 
oil  of  grace,  and  mercy,  and  truth.  The  new  Isaac  receives  the  first 
thrust  of  the  sacrificial  knife,  the  emissary  goat  of  the  new  law  "feels 
the  pressure  of  the  high  priest,  laying  upon  Him  "the  iniquities  of  us 
all."  "My  soul  is  sorrowful  even  unto  death,"  tell  the  anguish 
wherewith  His  heart  was  wrung ;  and  the  bloody  sweat,  oozing  from 
His  sacred  body,  speaks  in  mute  eloquence  of  the  agony  weighing  on 
His  soul. 

But  Judas  and  a  gang  of  hirelings  are  fast  drawing  near  to  arrest 
Him.  "Friend,  wherefore  art  thou  come?"  is  the  salute,  addressed 
by  the  searcher  of  hearts  to  the  false  follower  that  dares  to  hail 
Him  with  a  kiss.  Repentance  was  invited,  and  still  possible.  But 
the  soul  of  Judas  was  scorched,  his  heart  withered  and  hardened, 
under  Our  Lord's  embrace.  It  was  the  traitor's  last  grace,  and  he 
rejected  it.  He  chose  "darkness  rather  than  light";  and  the  soul 
that  failed  to  bend  to  the  divine  mercy,  had  soon  to  yield  to  the 
divine  justice. 

To  show  that  he  yields  to  violence,  not  by  force,  but  of  his  own 
accord,  He  utters  a  word,  and  the  rabble  behind  Judas,  "fall  back- 
ward to  the  ground."  "But  this  is  your  hour  and  the  power  of 
darkness,"  He  continues,  and  submits  to  their  will.  The  disciples, 
thereupon,  broke  and  fled;  and  the  meek  and  gentle  Saviour  is  left 
to  "tread  the  winepress  alone."  All  through  the  remainder  of  that 
night,  Eternal  Wisdom,  hustled  about  from  one  local  court  to  an- 
other, is  made  the  sport  of  the  crowd,  mocked,  buffeted,  spat  upon, 
blindfolded,  and  asked  to  "prophecy  who  it  was  that  smote  him." 
Needless  to  dwell  on  the  trial  of  Christ  before  the  Sanhedrim,  in 
form  and  substance  clearly  unfair,  as  well  indeed  expect  justice  for 
a  lamb  arraigned  before  wolves,  as  for  Christ  before  his  judges. 
Suffice  it  to  say,  He  is  declared  guilty  of  blasphemy,  and  brought 
before  Pilate  for  His  death  sentence.  A  charge  of  treason  to  Caesar 
that  elicits  Christ's  own  declaration  of  His  inherent  royalty — king- 
ship over  "a  kingdom  not  of  this  world,"  but  a  realm  of  light,  and 
love,  and  peace,  and  righteousness,  to  which  all  men  are  called. 
Pilate  and  Herod,  convinced  of  His  guiltlessness,  are  yet  baffled  like 
the  worldly  wise  of  all  times  by  His  meekness  and  silence.  He 
is  ever  irresponsive  to  dishonest  seekers  after  truth,  like  Pilate,  or 
after  marvels,  like  Herod.  He  ever  reveals  Himself  to  the  penitent; 
but  above  all,  to  the  "clean  of  heart"  and  "innocent  of  hand." 

2.  Pilate,  deaf  to  the  voice  of  his  own  conscience  and  the  appeal 


THE  PASSION  AND  DEATH  OF   OUR  LORD.  151 

of  his  gentle,  vision-favored  wife,  weakly  yields  to  the  savage  frenzy 
of  the  Jews,  and  hands  the  Saviour  over  to  be  scourged.  A  ruffianly 
band,  with  lewd  jest  and  profane  ribaldry,  strip  off  His  rent  gar- 
ments and  mock  robe ;  and,  with  cruel  rivalry,  vie  in  inflicting  stripes 
on  the  sacred  limbs  of  the  "Son  of  Man."  Instead  of  the  legal 
thirty-nine,  thousands  are  said  to  have  been  dealt,  till  in  the  words  of 
Isaias:  "From  the  sole  of  the  foot  to  the  top  of  the  head,  there  is 
no  soundness,  wounds,  and  bruises,  and  swelling  sores"  (Is.  liii,  2). 
Well  might  He  say  in  the  words  of  the  psalmist,  "I  have  been 
scourged  all  the  day"  (Ps.  Ixxii,  14)  ;  and,  "The  wicked  have 
wrought  upon  my  back"  (Id.  liii,  2). 

Then,  over  His  torn  and  bleeding  limbs  they  cast  in  scorn  an  old 
torn  purple  soldier's  cloak,  and  weaving  a  crown  of  the  long,  hard, 
nail-like  thorns  growing  hard  by,  they  pressed  them  on  His  head,  till 
the  blood  streamed  down  His  face  and  neck.  A  reed  is  thrust  into  His 
hand,  and  bending  the  knee  in  cruel  mockery,  they  cry,  "Hail,  King 
of  the  Jews."  Thus  arrayed,  yet  wearing  withal  an  aspect  of  sub- 
lime and  majestic  patience,  He  is  brought  before  the  people  in  the 
hope  that  the  sight  will  melt  their  hard  hearts ;  but  the  long  swelling 
cry  of  "Crucify  him,  crucify  him,"  is  the  sole  answer  to  Pilate's 
words,  "Behold  the  man !" 

Weak,  wavering,  Pilate  compromises  with  his  conscience  by 
washing  his  hands  of  innocent  blood,  and  then  hands  Jesus  over  to 
the  fury  of  His  enemies.  But  that  blood  "speaking  louder  than 
Abel,"  seals  his  and  their  doom.  Pilate,  the  worldly  Pilate,  feared 
only  Caesar,  and  the  people,  not  from  love  of  Rome  but  hatred  of 
Christ,  cried  they  would  have  "no  king  but  Caesar;"  but  ere  that 
generation  had  passed,  Caesar  shed  their  blood  like  water,  and 
turned  their  temple  and  city  into  a  shamble.  Pilat'e  was  removed 
from  his  post,  exiled,  and  finally  took  his  own  life,  going,  like  Judas, 
to  "his  place,"  the  place  made  for  himself  in  the  next  world  by  his 
conduct  in  this.  Christ's  enemies  are  dead  and  gone ;  but  He  "still 
liveth,"  and  will  come  again  one  day  "to  judge  the  quick  and  the 
dead." 

Let  us  now  choose  Him  for  our  King.  True,  His  body  is  torn 
by  the  lash.  His  head  is  pierced  by  prickly  thorns,  His  robe  is  a 
tattered  rag;  but  our  sins  of  lust,  our  mad  rush  for  unlawful,  ma- 
terial pleasures,  have  been  visited  on  His  head.  He  is  the  scapegoat 
"of  our  iniquities ;"  but  Our  Lord,  and  our  God  withal.  Let  us  see 
the  divine  in  Him,  under  the  veil  of  our  sins,  let  us  salute  Him,  in 


'5* 


THE   CREED. 


"the  diadem  wherewith  his  mother  crowned  him"  (Cant,  iii,  n). 
And  every  time  our  eyes  light  on  a  picture  of  the  "Ecce  Homo,"  let 
us  remember,  that  He,  the  Son  of  God,  "loved  us  and  gave  him- 
self for  us." 

But  two  more  stages  of  the  passion  still  remain.  The  two  cross 
beams  are  hastily  clamped  together,  and  the  death  procession  starts 
for  Calvary,  giving  rise  to  the  fourth  sorrowful  mystery,  the  car- 
rying of  the  Cross.  Weary  and  footsore,  repeatedly  staggering 
and  falling  under  its  weight,  Christ  is  driven  "like  an  ox  to  the 
slaughter."  Who  has  not  in  going  round  "the  Stations  of  the  Cross," 
repeatedly  dwelt  on  the  incidents  and  personages  of  this  sad  journey, 
the  weeping  women,  the  heroic  and  surviving  mother,  the  kindly 
Veronica,  the  highly  privileged  Simon  of  Cyrene.  Wending  its 
way  along  the  crooked,  rocky  streets,  crossing  the  valley  of  Hinnom 
and  out  by  the  city  gates,  they  reach  the  mound  or  hillock  of  Cal- 
vary, so  called  from  the  bleached  skulls  of  malefactors  strewn 
around.  Tradition  makes  it  the  spot  where  Adam  lay  buried;  but 
where  now  "the  handwriting  of  death  against  us"  is  to  be  blotted 
out.  The  "bunch  of  grapes,"  carried  on  the  staff,  is  to  be  bruised  in 
the  wine  press,  the  choice  wheat  is  to  be  ground,  to  show  the  fruitful- 
ness  of  the  land  in  Christ  Himself,  the  rich  bread  and  wine  of  the 
Eucharistic  table,  in  the  new  land  of  promise. 

In  the  last  act  of  this  drama  of  blood,  our  Saviour  is  stripped 
and  His  fainting  form,  torn,  bruised,  and  bleeding,  is  laid  on  the 
Cross,  the  tree  once  "accursed"  (Deut.  xxi,  23),  henceforward  to  be 
blessed.  Rough  nails  are  driven  through  His  hands  and  feet,  deep 
into  the  knotty  wood,  and  the  new  tree  of  life,  bearing  the  precious 
fruit  of  Mary's  womb,  is  raised,  dragged  hastily  along,  and  thrust, 
with  rude  racking  jerk,  into  the  hole  prepared  for  it.  Every  nerve 
and  muscle  quivered  with  the  violence  of  the  shock.  "They  have  dug 
my  hands  and  feet."  Nailed  to  the  tree  of  shame,  His  back  on  Je- 
rusalem, His  face  toward  Rome,  the  new  sacred  city  of  God's  chosen 
people,  His  precious  blood  streams  from  the  fountains  of  pierced 
hands  and  feet  like  the  river  of  Eden,  to  water  the  new  paradise  of 
God.  In  the  moment  of  His  agony,  He  yet  broke  the  silence  that  so 
long  held  Him  mute.  In  the  first  of  the  seven  last  words,  a  very  store- 
house of  wisdom  and  instruction  to  His  devout  followers  like  the 
seven  petitions  of  the  prayer  He  taught  them,  He  proclaims  the 
great  distinctive  Christian  duty  of  forgiveness  of  enemies.  He  Him- 
self, while  being  torn  alive  by  them,  yet  cries  out  in  His  anguish, 


THE  PASSION  AND  DEATH  OF  OUR  LORD. 


'53 


"Father  forgive  them  for  they  know  not  what  they  do."  Thus  did 
He  begin  His  work  of  high  priest,  pleading  God  to  spare  His  people, 
"ever  living  to  make  intercession  for  us,"  ever  resting  on  the  altar, 
"the  lamb  slain  as  it  were,"  to  appease  God's  wrath  against  sin  and 
sinners.  Every  time  we  are  "washed  in  the  blood  of  the  lamb,"  in  the 
Sacrament  of  Penance,  every  time  He  regards  our  contrite  hearts, 
and  hears  our  prayer  for  mercy,  we  listen,  as  it  were,  to  the  echo 
of  those  words  from  the  Cross. 

We  must  pass  over  in  silence  the  other  utterances  of  Our  Lord 
on  the  Cross,  till  His  last,  "Father  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my 
spirit";  and  then  bowing  down  His  head,  He  gave  up  the  ghost. 
Thus  in  the  thirty-third  year  of  His  age,  about  3  p.  m.  of  our  day, 
died  "The  holy  One  of  Israel,"  and  the  work  of  our  redemption  was 
completed.  Marvels  attesting  His  divinity  followed  His  death.  The 
earth  shook,  rocks  were  rent,  the  veil  of  the  temple  was  torn  in 
twain,  and  from  the  sixth  to  the  ninth  hour  darkness  covered  the 
earth.  As  Amos  (viii,  9)  had  foretold :  "The  sun  shall  go  down  at 
midday,  and  I  will  make  the  earth  dark  in  the  day  of  light." 

We  have  now,  brethren,  cast  a  hasty  glance  at  the  story  of  how  the 
"meek  and  humble  lamb  of  God  was  slain  in  the  house  of  those  he 
loved."  It  was  Abel  the  just,  slain  by  his  cruel  brother  Cain;  but 
in  yielding  to  death  He  triumphed  over  it.  Death,  no  doubt,  is  still 
the  destroyer.  As  a  weird  phantom,  a  hideous  specter,  it  passes 
over  the  earth,  robbing  us  of  our  loved  ones,  sparing  neither  age  nor 
sex  nor  rank.  But  to  believers,  to  those  who  hope,  who  realize  that 
"Christ  hath  risen,"  that  "death  shall  no  longer  have  dominion  over 
Him,"  it  is  no  longer  an  angel  of  destruction,  but  an  angel  of  light, 
setting  the  captive  free,  bidding  the  lame  walk,  the  blind  see,  the 
weary  to  be  at  rest.  Death  now  only  strikes  off  the  prisoner's  fetters, 
relieves  the  captive  spirit,  aids  us  to  commend  the  spirit  to  the  keep- 
ing of  Him  who  gave  it.  Be  it  ever  therefore  our  aim  in  life  so 
to  act,  as  when  death  comes  round,  we  may  calmly  "bow  the  head 
in  obedience  to  God's  call,  and  give  up  the  ghost,  i.  e.,  surrender  our 
bodily  life,  our  hearts  and  its  best  fruits  to  Him  Who  is  the  Father 
of  all,  and  Who  made  all  things  for  Himself." 


,54  THE   CREED. 


XVIII.    THE  RESURRECTION  AND  ASCENSION. 

BY  THE  REV.   WILLIAM   GRAHAM. 
"If  ye  then  be  risen  with  Christ,  seek  the  things  that  are  above." — Col.  iii.  I. 

SYNOPSIS. — These  two  mysteries  follow,  and  mutually  depend  in  order 
of  thought,  and  time.  Ascension  completes  Resurrection  as  noon  the 
dawn.  Each  mystery  furnishes  a  point  of  our  discourse. 

I.  What   is   meant    by   Resurrection?     Body    necessary    to    man- 
hood.   Soul  surviving  it  incomplete.     Body  not  shell  or  house  of  soul, 
or  machine  actuated  by  it,  but  integral  and   essential  part   of  human 
being,      (i)    Hence    Our    Lord's     Resurrection     a     restoration.      His 
Rising     more      than     mere     "Apotheosis,"      not      figurative      as      of 
heroes,     and     leaders,     and     authors     who      live     in     memory     of 
disciples    and    admirers.      (2)     Was    a    real    physical    rising    of    dead 
body  with  new  powers  and  qualities,  more  than  Rising  of  Nature  in 
spring  after  winter  death,  or  of  the  beautiful  transformation  from  grub 
or  chrysalis  to  dragonfly  or  butterfly.    Herein  no  real  death.     Lazarus 
and  others  raised  by  power  not  their  own,  but  still  subject  to  decay 
and  death  and  laws  of  matter.     In  Christ,  death  lost  its  dominion  and 
His  body  its  properties,     (j)  To  human  reason  and  experience  this  fact 
incredible,   but  proof   that  it   did   take   place   overwhelming.      World's 
best  and  holiest  thinkers,  for  past  nineteen  centuries,  have  accepted  it. 
There  never  has  been  any  lull  or  wavering  in  Christendom  of  words 
in  St.  Peter's  first  sermon,  "This  Jesus  did  God  raise  up  of  whom  we 
are  all  witnesses,"  (Acts  ii,  24).    Easter  central  and  regulating  feast  of 
calendar,  and  Sunday,  first  day  of  week,  standing  evidence  of  depth  of 
this  conviction.    Faith  impregnable  against  so-called  history  and  science. 

II.  Ascension:  Completion  of  Resurrection,  crowning  visible  event 
of  Christ's  life.     Witness  of  tradition  hereto.    Contents  of  this  tradition. 
This  twin  mystery  a  lifting  of  veil  hiding  other  world.    Affords  certainty 
of  and  glimpse  into  a  life  beyond  grave.    Two  main  results  of  Our  Lord's 
ascent:    (z)   Opening  of  heaven;    (2)   "He  liveth  to  make  intercession 
for  us." 

III.  Fruits  of  thoughts  on  the  double  mystery  summed  up  in  text, 
"If  ye  be  risen,"  etc.     (/)  Have  we  risen  to  newness  of  life?  i.  e.,  under- 
gone the  tangible  supernatural  change  from  sin  to  grace?    Are  we  con- 
victed?    Have  we  sincerely  washed   our  stains   in   blood   of  Lamb,   in 
penance?     (2)   Do  we  seek  things  above?     Are  we  carnal  or  worldly, 
rather  than  heavenly  minded?    Let  us,  therefore,  make  these  mysteries 
a  light  to  mind,  and  guide  to  feet.    In  realm  of  thought,  convictions,  and 
conduct,  let  us  show  that  we  have  risen  with  Christ,  and  that  sin  no 
longer  has  dominion  over  us. 

In  our  discourse  on  the  fourth  article  of  the  creed,  we  dwelt  on  the 
various  phases  of  Our  Lord's  sacred  passion,  from  the  agony  in  the 
garden,  till  His  lifeless  body  was  laid  in  the  tomb. 

The  raising  up  of  that  sacred  body,  and  its  triumphant  entry  into 
heaven — in  other  wofds,  the  fifth  and  sixth  articles  of  the  creed,  form 


THE  RESURRECTION  AND  ASCENSION.  155 

the  subject  of  my  discourse  to-day.  These  two  "glorious  mys- 
teries" follow  and  depend  on  each  other,  in  the  order  of  thought,  just 
as  they  succeeded  each  other  as  historical  facts,  in  the  order  of 
time.  We  join  them  together  because  "Resurrection,"  in  whatever 
sense  you  take  it,  is  a  mounting  up  into  heaven.  A  risen  body,  or 
mystically,  a  risen  soul,  belongs  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  though 
accidentally  detained  on  earth.  Ascension  day  is,  therefore,  the  com- 
pletion of  Easter,  as  the  dazzling  sun  of  noon  is  the  climax  of  the 
dawn.  Each  mystery  in  turn  suggests  a  point  in  our  discourse. 

I.  To  understand  the  meaning  of  the  dogma  of  the  "Resurrection" 
it  is  well  to  bear  in  mind  that  the  body  is  essential  to  a  man's  full 
personality.  The  soul,  severed  from  the  body,  can  not  be  said  to 
be  a  man.  It  needs  the  body  to  complete  its  human  life.  The  body 
is  not  related  to  the  soul  as  a  casket  to  the  jewel  it  holds,  or  as 
a  home  to  its  occupier.  The  soul  may  indeed  exist  apart  from  the 
body;  but  its  life  is  incomplete.  The  body  and  soul  together  make 
up  a  complete  human  being ;  and  are  only  parted  at  death  by  a  vio- 
lent wrench.  Resurrection  then  is  the  restoration  to  man  of  the 
completeness  of  identity,  lost  by  death.  Our  Lord,  therefore,  in 
the  Resurrection,  was  restored  to  the  fulness  of  His  manhood.  His 
was  not  a  mere  figurative  rising,  in  the  faith  and  love  and  deep 
reverence  of  his  followers ;  as  of  poets  and  warriors,  and  lawgivers, 
who  are  said  to  be  "living  still"  among  those  who  "love  and  wor- 
ship them."  The  Resurrection  of  Our  Lord  was  no  "lifting  up,  and 
seating  in  power  and  majesty  in  heaven"  by  credulous  followers,  like 
that  of  "reckoning  certain  Roman  emperors  among  the  gods."  Such 
as  they  uttered  no  Easter  message  and  left  no  empty  tombs.  The 
Resurrection  preached  and  witnessed  "even  to  the  shedding  of 
blood,"  was  a  real  physical,  or  bodily  rising,  the  issuing  forth  from 
the  rock-hewn  grave,  sealed  and  guarded  by  the  authorities  of  the 
city,  of  one  who  had  been  laid  in  it  a  mangled  and  lifeless  corpse. 
This  body  no  doubt,  was  spiritualized,  endowed  with  new  special 
properties,  raised  above  ordinary  laws  of  matter,  and  no  longer 
doomed  to  die  over  again;  yet  it  was  substantially,  and  radically, 
the  same  identical  body  with  that  in  which  he  had  suffered  and  died. 

The  Resurrection  was  more  than  the  shadowy  revival  we  see 
taking  place  in  nature,  where  spring  follows  winter,  and  the  dead 
corpse  or  wreckage  of  summer  life  emerges  from  the  dead  old  grave, 
in  which  it  lay  buried,  to  the  gladness  and  fresh  stirring  life  of 
spring.  It  was  more  than  the  birth  of  a  gorgeous  butterfly  from 


i56  THE  CREED. 

grub  or  chrysalis.  In  these  cases  there  is  change,  a  new  body  is 
grafted  in  the  old  roots,  but  there  was  no  real  death.  They  help 
the  fancy  to  picture  the  Resurrection :  but  no  more.  In  Our  Lord's 
case,  there  was  true  death.  Nothing  more  certain,  historically  and 
otherwise,  than  that  he  really  died.  His  Resurrection  was  not  the 
creation  of  a  new  body,  but  the  reproduction  of  the  previously 
living  one  dissolved,  or,  as  we  say,  corrupted  (i.  e.,  broken)  by  death. 
"Thou  hast  brought  me  to  life,  and  hast  brought  me  back  again 
from  the  depths  of  the  earth"  (Ps.  Ixx,  20).  "Thou  wilt  not  leave 
my  soul  in  hell ;  nor  wilt  thou  give  thy  holy  one  to  see  corruption" 
(Ps.  xv,  10).  His  was  not  the  mere  reanimating  of  a  dead  body  as 
in  the  case  of  Lazarus  and  others,  still  remaining  corruptible,  and 
destined  to  return  to  the  grave.  Death's  dominion  in  their  case  re- 
mained intact:  in  His,  "Death  shall  no  longer  have  dominion  over 
him"  (Rom.  vi,  9). 

That  a  human  being  duly  certified  as  "dead  and  buried,"  should 
leave  the  "grave,  in  which  they  laid  him"  and  walk  abroad  in  open 
day,  eat,  drink  and  converse  with  his  former  friends,  is  a  hard  say- 
ing that  seems  to  overtax  belief,  inasmuch  as  it  runs  counter  to  all 
human  experience.  Yet  it  is  this  fact  on  which  the  stately  fabric 
of  our  holy  religion  is  based.  "If  Christ  be  not  risen  from  the  dead, 
then  is  our  preaching  vain,  and  your  faith  is  also  vain"  (I  Cor.  xv, 
14).  And  none  more  certain.  The  four  gospels,  apart  even  from 
their  inspired  character,  coming  down  as  historical  documents,  alike 
simply  and  sincerely  allege  the  main  facts  of  the  Resurrection — the 
death  and  burial  of  Our  Lord,  the  empty  tomb,  the  various  appear- 
ances of  the  risen  Christ.  The  discrepancies  of  statement  in  matters 
of  detail  only  show  absence  of  collusion  and  afford  a  guarantee  of 
trustworthiness.  A  cloud  of  witnesses  to  the  same  fact  never  tell 
exactly  the  same  story.  At  Pentecost  the  apostles  and  others,  among 
them,  no  doubt,  many  or  most  of  the  "500  brethren  who  had  seen 
the  Lord  at  once  in  his  risen  body,"  began  to  preach  the  Resurrection ; 
and  that  preaching  has  gone  on  till  the  present  hour,  and  ever  will 
go  on.  In  the  words  of  St.  Peter's  first  sermon:  "This  Jesus  did 
God  raise  up,  whereof  we  are  all  witnesses"  (Acts  iv,  2).  To  the 
apostles,  and  infant  Church  generally,  who  knew  the  Lord  and  who 
could  not,  even  if  they  would,  have  been  misled  or  deluded,  as  will 
appear  to  any  attentive  and  impartial  reader  of  the  gospels  and 
early  Church  documents,  the  proofs  were  overwhelming  that  He 
had  risen  and  left  an  empty  tomb.  They  are  as  cogent  and  cumu- 


THE   RESURRECTION  AND  ASCENSlOtf.  157 

lative  now  as  then.  Indeed  time  and  experience  do  but  verify  the 
fact  that  "the  Lord  hath  truly  risen  and  appeared  unto  Simon." 

Never  has  the  Church  wavered  in  witnessing  to  this  basic  and 
essential  truth. 

The  great  feast  of  Easter  that  regulates  our  calendars  and 
almanacs,  the  observance  of  the  Sunday  as  the  Sabbath,  instead  of 
Saturday,  a  very  far-reaching  change,  now  kept  all  over  the  cul- 
tured world,  serve  to  show  how  deeply  rooted  and  general  was 
and  is  the  belief  that  Our  Lord  emerged  a  living  and  conquering 
Christ  from  the  grave  wherein  they  laid  Him.  Indeed,  belief  in  a 
risen  and  ascended  Christ  is  not  so  much  an  inference  needing 
proof,  as  a  truth  that  we  feel  and  see  when  stated.  With  Christ's 
own  imperishable  church,  built  on  the  rock  of  truth,  we  know  it 
and  see  it,  by  a  power  of  vision,  a  deep  keen  insight  of  faith,  strong 
and  irresistibly  convincing,  impervious,  in  fact,  to  all  the  specious 
arguments  against  it,  drawn  from  history  or  science.  In  the  inmost 
recesses  of  the  heart  we  hear  Our  Lord  say  "Fear  not,  I  am  alive 
and  was  dead;  and  behold,  I  am  living  forever  and  ever,  and  have 
the  keys  of  death  and  of  hell"  (Apoc.  i,  18).  Through  the  same 
great  luminous  spiritual  force  called  faith  we  feel  rather  than 
reason  to  the  truth  of  His  Ascension  when  "Ascending  on  high  he 
led  captivity  captive"  (Ps.  Ixvii). 

2.  The  sixth  article  of  the  creed,  "He  ascended  into  Heaven,"  is 
the  logical  and  historical  issue  of  the  Resurrection.  In  this  mystery 
we  dwell  on  the  crowning  event  of  Our  Lord's  visible  career  on 
earth,  and  the  completion  of  the  divine  scheme  of  man's  redemp- 
tion. The  memory  of  this  event,  told  in  the  gospels  of  St.  Mark 
and  St.  Luke,  as  well  as  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  has  remained  ever 
impressed  in  the  mind  of  the  Church;  and  is  attested  by  a  special 
feast  kept  to  honor  it,  on  the  fifth  day  of  the  week,  Thursday,  forty 
days  after  Easter.  Tradition  points  to  Olivet  as  the  scene  of  the  As- 
cension, and  even  boldly  ventures  on  the  details  that  accompanied 
it — the  gathering  of  the  apostles  and  disciples  in  the  cenacle,  the 
sudden  appearance  of  Our  Lord  in  their  midst,  His  discourse  of  the 
occasion,  His  leading  the  holy  band,  the  infant  Church,  over  the 
scenes  of  His  passion,  and  up  the  slopes  of  Olivet,  to  the  spot  still 
shown,  whence  "He  was  raised  up  and  a  cloud  received  him  out  of 
their  sight"  (Acts  i,  9). 

Attended  by  troops  of  angels  and  the  redeemed  prisoners  of  limbo 
and  purgatory,  "he  entered  into  the  holies,  having  obtained  eternal 


iS8  THE  CREED. 

redemption"  (Heb.  ix,  12).  Well  might  holy  David  sing:  "Lift  up 
your  gates,  O  ye  princes,  and  be  ye  lifted  up,  O  eternal  gates :  and 
the  King  of  glory  shall  enter  in"  (Ps.  xxiii,  7).  "Who  is  this  King 
of  glory ?  Christ  Jesus  that  died,  yea  that  is  risen  also  again,  who 
is  at  the  right  hand  of  God,  who  also  maketh  intercession  for  us" 
(Rom.  viii,  3,  4). 

Now  this  return  of  Our  Lord  to  bodily  life,  followed  by  His  tri- 
umphant entry  into  heaven,  lifts  the  veil  that  screens  the  other 
world,  and  affords  us  an  inkling  of  some  of  the  mysteries,  that  are 
one  day  "to  be  revealed  in  us" :  It  brings  home  to  us  the  existence 
in  concrete  form  of  another  world,  besides  the  present.  In  the  dark 
hours  of  the  passion,  the  world  accepted  death  as  the  end  of  all,  the 
great  destroyer,  to  which  all  had  to  yield;  as  indeed  in  its  unbe- 
lieving section  it  still  does :  but  lo !  the  Resurrection  and  Ascension 
of  One,  "having  the  keys  of  death  and  of  hell"  opens  the  eyes  of  all 
not  only  to  a  shadowy  possibility,  but  an  actual  certainty  of  life  be- 
yond the  grave.  It  is  for  the  race  a  birth  into  a  new  world,  a  leap 
from  the  natural  and  moral,  into  the  supernatural  and  spiritual.  To 
the  believer  a  new  order  of  facts,  a  new  aspect  of  life,  opens  out  in 
the  thought  that  Christ  has  risen  from  the  dead  and  mounted  into 
heaven  "the  first  fruits  of  them  that  sleep" ;  and  next  that  He  "sitteth 
at  the  right  hand  of  God  making  intercession  for  us"  (Rom.  viii,  19) . 

Two  main  results  of  vast  importance  to  each  and  all  are  involved 
herein,  first  that  Christ  opened  the  gates  of  heaven  to  us :  "I  go  to 
prepare  a  place  for  you"  (John  xiv,  2),  and  next,  that  He  is  in 
heaven  our  perpetual  mediator  and  advocate.  "We  have  an  advo- 
cate with  the  Father,  Jesus  Christ  the  Just"  (I  John  ii,  i).  "He  is 
the  propitiation  of  our  sins"  (Id.  v,  2). 

"And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up  from  the  earth  will  draw  all  to  myself" 
(John  xii,  32).  He  "was  lifted  up"  on  the  Cross  of  Calvary,  and 
the  hearts  of  all  are  drawn  to  Him,  the  divine  victim  of  the  sins  of 
men ;  He  was  lifted  up  in  the  Resurrection,  and  our  hearts  are  drawn 
to  Him  in  the  fullness  and  gladness  of  Easter  joy  as  we  sing  with 
the  Church,  "This  is  the  day  which  the  Lord  hath  made,  we  will 
rejoice  and  be  glad  in  it"  (Ps.  cxviii,  24).  Finally,  He  "was  lifted  up" 
in  His  ascension  and  our  hearts  follow  and  are  drawn  to  Him  in 
the  throne  He  occupies,  at  the  right  hand  of  His  Father,  in  the 
heaven  He  opened  for  us,  and  wherein  He  "is  always  living  to  make 
intercession  for  us."  Calvary  draws  the  heart  upward  in  re- 
pentant love,  the  empty  tomb  in  trustful  joy,  and  triumphant  Olivet 


THE  RESURRECTION  AND  ASCENSION. 


'59 


in  rapturous  longing  "to  be  dissolved  and  to  be  with  Christ,"  for 
surely  "where  the  head  is,  there  also  should  the  members  be." 

I  have  not  dwelt  on  what  Our  Lord  insisted  on  so  strongly,  the  ex- 
pedience of  His  visible  departure  from  earth  to  heaven.  Enough 
to  say,  that  the  Ascension  completes  the  great  circle  of  redeeming 
grace,  and  revealed  truths,  needed  to  bring  us  erring  sinners  back 
to  God.  The  sense  of  unpardoned  sin  leads  to  need  of  atonement. 
This  atonement  is  utterly  insufficient  without  a  divine  victim.  The 
divinity  of  the  victim  involves  a  distinction  of  persons  in  the  essential 
unity  of  the  Godhead,  and  as  the  leprosy  of  sin,  the  great  canker  of 
evil,  is  ever  leavening  the  corrupt  mass  of  humanity,  so  is  the  work 
of  mediation  on  the  part  of  the  ascended  Christ  ever  necessary, 
ever  "living  to  make  intercession  for  us." 

3.  As  the  fruits  of  our  thoughts  on  the  twin  mystery  of  the  Resur- 
rection and  the  Ascension  we  may  glean  a  twofold  lesson  suggested 
in  the  words  of  St.  Paul :  "If  ye  be  risen  with  Christ,  seek  the  things 
that  are  above"  (Coll.  iii,  i).  We,  too,  must  rise  from  the  dead 
and  ascend,  or  perish.  The  risen  and  ascended  Christ  is  the  sun 
and  center  of  the  world  of  spirits.  If  He  is  not  such  to  us,  if  we 
move  not  in  due  orbit  round  Him,  then  we  are  in  danger  of  getting 
lost,  and  shattered  in  awful  night,  (a)  We  must  first  of  all,  be  "risen 
with  Christ."  The  Resurrection  must  not  be  to  us  a  mere  past  his- 
torical event,  or  a  detached  unfruitful  doctrine.  Dogmatic  truth 
and  moral  truth  may  be  dealt  with  separately  in  books,  but  in  a 
soul,  "risen  with  Christ,"  they  blend  and  interpenetrate.  To  me  and 
you  the  Resurrection,  subjectively,  is  a  seed  of  spiritual  energy,  as 
well  as  a  sure  fact  of  history.  It  is  only  in  and  through  our  risen 
and  ascended  Saviour,  that  we  can  rise  from  the  moral  grave  of  sin, 
and  both  seek  and  find  "the  things  that  are  above."  For  a  dead 
body  to  rise  from  the  tomb  and  a  sinner  to  emerge  from  moral 
death  are  both  effects  of  divine  energy.  Rising  from  sin  is  as 
tangible  a  supernatural  fact  as  rising  from  the  grave.  Have  we 
then  undergone  this  vital  moral  change,  this  spiritual  resurrection, 
this  transfer  from  the  state  of  sin  to  the  state  of  grace,  this  passing 
upward  from  the  deep,  dark,  cold  grave  of  evil,  to  the  warmth  and 
sunshine  and  air  of  God's  friendship?  We  rose  from  the  dead  in 
Holy  Baptism ;  but  alas  how  often  have  we  not  lapsed  back  into  the 
grave  of  sin.  Take  then  to  heart  this  first  lesson  of  the  Resurrection 
and  "be  risen"  with  Chriet.  We  rise  again  through  penance  and  hum- 
ble confession  of  sin.  (6)  Next,  let  us  take  a.  lesson  from  the  As- 


!6o  THE   CREED. 

cension,  and  ever  "seek  the  things  that  are  above."  "Mind  the 
things  that  are  above,  not  the  things  that  are  upon  the  earth" 
(Coll.  iii,  2).  "Christ  rising  again  from  the  dead  dieth  now  no 
more;  death  shall  have  no  more  dominion  over  him"  (Rom.  vi,  9). 
The  Ascension,  as  I  said,  is  the  completion  of  the  Resurrection,  so, 
too,  the  soul  that  rises  from  sin,  that  emerges  from  the  unregenerate 
natural  state  to  the  supernatural,  ascends,  rises  to  a  new  sphere,  a 
new  plane  of  being.  It  is  more  than  a  mere  elevation  of  thought,  or 
feeling,  it  is  a  passing  from  death  to  life,  and  abiding  therein.  Grace, 
the  principle  of  this  inner  change  of  life,  is  the  seed  of  glory.  A 
soul  in  grace,  is  really  a  soul  that  has  "ascended  with  Christ" ;  hence 
the  word  "heavenly-minded,"  so  aptly  applied  to  souls  thus  risen, 
and  ascended  with  Christ.  "But  God  (who  is  rich  in  mercy)  for 
his  exceeding  charity  wherewith  he  loved  us,  even  when  we  were 
dead  in  sin,  hath  quickened  us  together  in  Christ  .  .  .  and 
hath  raised  us  up  together,  and  hath  made  us  sit  together  in  the 
heavenly  places  through  Christ  Jesus"  (Eph.  ii,  4,  5,  6).  In  conclu- 
sion, therefore,  while  we  make  the  great  doctrines  of  the  Resurrection 
and  Ascension  "a  light  to  the  mind,"  let  us  not  fail  also  to  make  them 
"a  guide  to  the  heart."  Let  moral  death,  i.  e.,  sin,  never  "have  do- 
minion over  us,"  let  us  ever  in  the  way  of  life  be  "risen  with  Christ," 
and  in  the  realms  of  thought,  of  conversation,  and  of  conduct,  "seek 
the  things  that  are  above." 


THE  JUDGMENT  (SECOND  COMING  OF  OUR  LORD).       161 


XIX.    THE  JUDGMENT    (SECOND   COMING  OF 
OUR  LORD). 

BY  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  GRAHAM. 

"From  thence  he  shall  come  to  judge  the  living  and  the  dead." — Seventh 
Article  of  Creed. 

SYNOPSIS. — Introduction. — Christ  stands  to  all  as  Redeemer,  Advocate, 
Judge,  in  which  latter  capacity  we  regard  Him  in  the  seventh  article  of 
the  Creed.  His  attributes  as  Redeemer  and  Advocate  are  shrouded  or 
merged  in  those  of  the  stern,  all-knowing  Judge.  Importance  of  subject 
both  for  time  and  eternity.  Propose  to  draw  attention  to  (/)  What  is 
meant  by  judgment  after  death,  and  why  needful.  (II)  Why  general 
judgment  necessary  in  addition  to  particular. 

I.  What  involved  in  idea  of  judgment.    All  to  be  submitted  to  it. 
God,  our  supreme  Judge,  transfers  His  powers  to  Christ  as  man.  By  a  sort 
of  process  of  selection  all  "go  to  their  place,"  as  sheep  or  goats,  just  or 
unjust.    The  sifting  or  refining  known  as  judgment  ever  going  slowly  on. 
We     are     growing     up     chaff     or     wheat,     good     grain     or     weeds. 
We  are  now  sowing  and  what  we  sow  we  shall  reap.    Process  slow  here 
and  now;  but  in  death,  and  at  last  day,  instantaneous.     St.  Paul  and 
Felix  (Acts  cxxiv).    Judgment  imbedded  in  all  creeds.  Ever  strikes  home, 
because  revealed  in  every  act  of  conscience.    "Hall  of  double  truth."  God's 
searchlight.    God  avenger   of   all   law,  physical  and   moral.    Judgment 
shadows  law.    Man  now  a  sower.    God  in  judgment,  reaper  and  thresher. 

II.  This  judgment  twofold — particular  and  general.    General  regis- 
ters decrees  of  first,  but  necessary  to  complete  it.    i.    Because  man  not 
a  solitary  unit,  but  member  of  a  body.   Total  results  of  a  life  known  only 
at  last  day.    2.    Sin  or  service  of  self,  and  virtue  or  service  of  God,  a 
joint  product  of  body  and  soul.    Hence  both  must  be  judged  at  reunion 
on  last  day.    3.    Necessary  to  justify  God's  ways  to  the  individual  soul 
and  the  race.     4.     Needful  also  to  vindicate  Christ  and  His  saints  to 
assembled  mankind. 

Conclusion. — Let  this  solemn  truth  penetrate  mind,  heart,  and  con- 
science. Sow  now  in  holiness  if  you  would  reap  safely  in  judgment.  Ex- 
hort to  watch  over  thoughts,  words,  and  deeds  of  life. 

To  each  and  every  member  of  the  human  race,  Our  Lord  stands 
in  the  triple  relation  of  Redeemer,  Advocate,  and  Judge.  As  our  Re- 
deemer, He  suffered  and  died  on  the  Cross  for  us,  as  our  Advocate 
He  ascended  into  Heaven,  to  plead  for  us,  and  "From  thence  He 
shall  come"  a  second  time  to  be  our  Judge.  The  truth  thus  embodied 
in  the  seventh  article  of  the  Creed,  is  of  unspeakable  importance  to 
us  all,  singly,  and  as  a  whole.  He  who  came  down  from  heaven,  to 


1 62  THE  CREED. 

redeem  and  save  us,  Mary's  Son,  who  prayed,  and  wept,  and  hun- 
gered, and  died  a  cruel  death  on  the  Cross  for  us,  will  come  down 
again,  visibly,  in  dread  pomp,  and  power,  and  majesty,  to  be  our 
Judge.  The  ensigns  of  the  Redeemer,  the  accents  of  the  pleader, 
will  be  laid  aside,  or  merged  in  the  stern  unbending  features  of  the 
Judge.  The  attributes  of  mercy  and  love  will  be  veiled,  and  that  of 
justice  alone  will  appear.  "Behold  he  cometh  with  the  clouds"  (Apoc. 
i,  7).  "And  lo,  one  like  the  Son  of  Man  came  with  the  clouds  of 
heaven"  (Dan.  vii,  13).  "Behold  the  Lord  cometH  with  thousands 
of  his  saints  to  execute  judgment  upon  all"  (Jude  i,  14). 

So  important,  indeed,  does  the  Church  deem  reflection  on  the 
great  fact  of  the  last  judgment,  that,  to  call  men's  attention  to  it 
she  begins  and  ends  the  liturgical  year,  by  reading  for  the  gospel  of 
the  day  the  portion  of  Holy  Writ  wherein  are  described  the  signs 
that  precede,  and  attend,  the  second  coming  of  the  Son  of  God,  in 
judgment.  Now  this  is  not  a  vague  shadowy  far-off  event,  that 
concerns  only  the  world  at  large ;  but  an  intensely  personal  one,  since 
the  doom  of  the  whole  does  but  register  the  fate  of  each.  What  we 
say  of  the  general  judgment  applies  to  the  judgment  that  awaits 
each  singly.  A  few  words,  therefore,  (i)  on  what  is  meant  by  the 
solemn  judgment  awaiting  souls  and  why  justice  demands  it,  and 
(2)  why,  in  addition  to  the  particular  judgment  awaiting  each  soul, 
there  should  be  a  general  judgment  awaiting  all. 

I.  The  doctrine  involved  in  the  article  of  the  Creed  now  under 
consideration,  is  that  a  solemn,  searching,  sifting  judgment  awaits 
all  responsible  beings,  when  this  planet  of  ours  has  run  its  appointed 
course ;  and  the  world  in  its  present  form,  ceases  to  exist.  At  a  day, 
and  at  an  hour,  unknown  even  to  the  angels,  Christ,  in  His  human 
nature,  "to  whom  all  power  has  been  given  in  heaven  and  on  earth," 
and  "to  whom  the  Father  hath  given  all  judgment"  (John  v,  22), 
will  come  from  heaven,  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead;  and  pro- 
nounce the  sentence  consigning  the  just  to  everlasting  joy,  and  the 
wicked  to  never  ending  woe.  Every  human  being  from  Adam  down 
to  the  last  born  representative  of  our  race,  will  be  present  and  drop 
into  one  or  other  of  the  above  classes — called  the  sheep  and  the 
goats — the  just  and  the  unjust. 

How  the  great  catastrophe  known  as  the  last  day,  so  luridly 
painted  by  spiritual  writers,  and  issuing  in  the  second  coming  of 
Our  Lord,  is  to  be  brought  about,  whether  by  the  result  of  physical 
causes  now  at  work,  or  external  agency,  is  not  our  purpose  to 


THE  JUDGMENT  (SECOND  COMING  OF  OUR  LORD).       163 

determine.  We  are  concerned  only  with  the  moral  aspect  of  what 
will  take  place  at  the  end  of  the  world,  when  the  judicial  power  of 
God  over  men  will  be  handed  to  Christ.  As  a  matter  of  sober  fact, 
we  may  say  that  Christ  is  always  coming  to  judge  us.  The  record- 
ing angel  is  ever  at  work  in  the  soul.  Judgment,  in  the  case  both  of 
men  and  nations,  is  but  a  reaping  what  they  have  sown.  It  is  the 
final  act  of  a  process  still  going  on.  We  ourselves  are  daily  sowing 
and  thus  recording  the  materials  of  our  doom.  Judgment,  in  Greek, 
means  division  or  sifting.  Both  at  the  end  of  life  and  at  the  last  day, 
there  will  be  a  division,  a  sifting  of  the  evidence,  as  in  the  parable 
of  the  wedding  garment,  and  the  parting  of  the  goats  from  the 
sheep.  Here  good  and  evil  are  intermingled;  then  there  will  be  a 
quick,  sharp  separation,  a  cleaving  asunder  of  mankind,  by  the  force 
of  moral  attraction,  under  the  eye  of  the  great  Judge,  when  they 
shall  go,  each  "to  his  own  place."  We  are  now  free  to  make  our 
choice.  It  will  be  too  late,  when  the  great  white  throne  is  set,  and 
the  books  are  opened,  and  the  fateful  words  are  uttered:  "Give  an 
account  of  thy  stewardship,  for  now  thou  canst  be  steward  no 
longer." 

We  read  in  the  24th  chapter  of  the  Acts  that,  when  St.  Paul 
"treated  of  justice  and  chastity,  and  of  the  judgment  to  come,"  Felix, 
the  governor,  trembled  and  "was  terrified."  It  was  no  mere  opinion, 
no  new  truth  that  he  preached,  but  one  that  struck  the  guilty  con- 
science of  the  listener,  a  truth  imbedded  in  all  the  creeds  of  the 
race,  and  merely  put  luminously  by  Jewish  and  Christian  thinkers 
that:  "In  the  end  of  a  man  is  the  disclosing  of  his  works"  (Eccl.  xi, 
29),  "and  that  all  things  that  are  done  God  will  bring  to  light" 
(Eccl.  12)  ;  that  there  is  an  eye  that  sees  all,  an  ear  that  hears  all, 
a  memory  that  stores  all,  a  "searcher  of  hearts"  in  short,  from 
whom  nothing  is  hid,  even  the  heart's  own  most  hidden  windings. 
The  shadows  that  death  casts  over  the  gayest  and  sunniest  lives 
are  but  those  projected  by  the  judgment  following  death.  What 
easier  than  to  die!  It  is  but  a  leap  back  into  the  void,  whence  we 
came.  It  is  not,  however,  the  mere  act  of  dying,  it  is  the  burdened 
conscience,  that  makes  death  the  "King  of  terrors."  The  mysteri- 
ous land  of  the  Pharaos  has  yielded  to  research  nothing  more  im- 
pressive than  "the  weighing  of  the  heart  in  the  hall  of  double 
truth,"  a  painting  that  shows  the  judgment,  awaiting  souls  after 
death,  with  startling  realism.  Executed  fourteen  centuries  before 
Christ,  it  still  speaks  of  "the  judgment  to  come."  Then  as  now,  a 


Z64  THE  CREED. 

glance  at  the  moral  state  of  the  world  proved  to  men  the  need  of  an 
"assizes"  of  souls  to  make  the  scales  even.  Saints  are  tortured  for 
"obeying  God  rather  than  men,"  while  hoary  sensualists,  who  in  life 
disregard  all  law,  human  and  divine,  are  "clad  in  purple  and  fine 
linen,  and  fare  sumptuously  every  day."  Even  in  the  light  of  reason 
and  conscience,  men  saw  then,  as  now,  the  need  of  a  balancing  of 
accounts  in  the  next  world,  to  rectify  the  glaring  inequalities  of  this. 
Nero  wears  the  purple  while  Peter  and  Paul  die  the  death  of  crim- 
inals. A  breach  of  the  laws  of  nature  involves  punishment,  i.  e., 
judgment;  so  is  it  in  the  moral  order.  In  nature,  we  reap  what 
we  sow,  even  though  the  reaping  and  sowing  be  separated  by  a 
long  interval  of  time.  Law  is  universal.  Man  is  free.  He  is  a  moral 
agent  who  may  obey  or  disobey,  follow  or  discard  the  will  of  God, 
expressed  in  law,  and  made  known  by  conscience.  But  he  is  mor- 
ally bound  to  choose  only  what  is  right.  Woe  to  him  if  he  abuses 
the  divine  gift  of  liberty,  in  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  conscience,  speak- 
ing in  the  name  of  God.  In  the  Scripture  God  says :  "I  shall  search 
Jerusalem  with  lamps."  This  is  judgment,  God's  searchlight 
turned  upon  the  soul.  Night  may  seem  long.  Deeds  of  dark- 
ness seem  easily  to  escape  the  light.  But  the  sun  will  surely  rise 
and  the  whole  world  stand  revealed  in  its  light.  So  will  men  and 
nations  stand  revealed  when  the  Sun  of  Justice  will  appear  in  power 
and  majesty,  to  judge  mankind.  As  soon  extinguish  the  sun  as  to 
hide  any  foul  thought,  word,  deed,  or  omission  from  the  all-seeing 
eye  of  God. 

God  is  the  author  of  all  law  and  the  avenger  of  its  infringement, 
whether  in  the  physical  or  moral  order.  Every  revelation  of  the 
divine  Will  in  conscience  is  shadowed  by  judgment.  At  present  the 
process  of  judgment  is  slow — but  real.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  ever  "con- 
vincing the  world  of  sin,  of  justice,  and  of  judgment."  At  the  last 
day,  as  observed,  the  end  of  life  for  the  individual  and  of  the  world 
for  the  race,  the  process  will  be  sudden.  The  sifting  will  be  instan- 
taneous. Here  God  seems  only  to  look  on.-  Now  the  sower  is  at 
work ;  then,  it  will  be  the  turn  of  the  reaper  and  the  thresher.  All 
is  but  a  getting  ready  for  the  mills  of  God,  which  "grind  slow,  but 
grind  sure." 

II.  This  ingathering  or  harvesting  of  souls,  as  I  observed,  is  two- 
fold ;  at  the  end  of  life  for  each  individual,  called  the  particular,  and 
at  the  end  of  the  world  for  the  whole  race,  called  the  general  judg- 
ment. It  is  with  this  latter  phase  of  judgment — the  second  coming 


THE  JUDGMENT  (SECOND  COMING  OP  OUR  LORD).       165 

of  Our  Lord — that  the  seventh  article  of  the  Creed  is  specially  con- 
cerned. 

And  now  it  may  be  asked,  why  this  general  judgment,  seeing 
that  as  soon  as  the  breath  leaves  the  body  the  soul  is  confronted 
with  its  Judge  and  hears  it's  fate  sealed  forever  ?  True,  but  we  must 
bear  in  mind  that  we  are  not  solitary  individuals,  but  members  of 
the  great  human  family,  with  corresponding  duties  and  responsi- 
bilities. None  stand  alone  in  this  world.  Their  good  or  evil  deeds 
in  endless  ways  affect  the  lives  of  others.  There  are  lives  pregnant 
with  blessings  to  generations  yet  unborn,  and  others,  equally  fertile 
in  curses  and  wrongs.  A  man  lives  in  his  works,  an  author  in  his 
books,  a  statesman  or  conqueror  in  the  measures  for  which  he  is  re- 
sponsible. Hew  can  these  results  be  totalled  up  till  the  last  day? 

Neither  must  we  forget  that  we  sinned,  or  served  God  in  our 
bodies ;  and  it  is  only  fair  that  we  should  be  rewarded  or  punished 
at  the  reunion  of  soul  and  body,  to  take  place  at  the  general  rising 
on  the  last  day.  Again,  the  honor  due  to  God — recognition  of  His 
infinite  justice,  wisdom,  providence,  and  love — due  to  Him  by  all 
creatures,  loudly  calls  for  this  general  judgment.  His  moral  gov- 
ernment, as  we  see  it  in  the  blurred  page  of  individual  experiences, 
would  be  indefensible,  were  it  not  for  the  judgment  to  come.  An- 
archy would  be  justifiable  without  it.  The  union  of  pleasure  with 
vice,  sorrow  with  virtue,  the  prosperity  of  the  wicked  and  misery 
of  the  just,  have  often  nearly  driven  generous  souls  into  skepticism 
or  despair.  "My  feet  had  almost  swerved,  my  steps  had  well-nigh 
slipt,"  says  holy  David,  "seeing  the  prosperity  of  sinners"  (Ps.  Ixxii, 
2,  3),  and  almost  in  despair  he  adds:  "Then  have  I  in  vain  justified 
(i.  e.  purified)  my  heart,  and  washed  my  hands  among  the  inno- 
cent." "Behold  these  are  sinners;  and  yet  abounding  in  the  world 
they  have  obtained  riches"  (Ib.  v,  12,  13).  Hence  God  is  often 
blasphemed,  blamed  or  ignored  in  His  own  world,  by  His  own 
creatures ;  and  therefore  has  He  reserved  to  Himself  a  day  of  final 
retribution  when  His  justice,  goodness,  and  wise  government  will 
be  made  known  to  the  whole  world. 

Furthermore,  a  setting  right  of  the  world's  wrongs  is  due  in  jus- 
tice to  Christ  and  His  saints,  and  this  can  only  be  done  when  the 
world's  harvest  is  gathered  in.  The  world  weighs  their  merits  in 
a  false  balance.  The  standard  of  Christ,  the  standard  of  the  beati- 
tudes, that  would  heal  the  world,  is  reversed.  It  often  calls  good 
evil,  and  evil  good.  Clean  lives,  pure  lives,  holy  lives,  are  often 


!66  THE  CREED. 

scorned  and  laughed  at.  More  respect  is  paid  to  the  idol  of  pleas- 
ures than  to  the  Christ-God.  Mammon  holds  a  higher  place  in  hearts 
of  worldlings  than  does  Christ.  But  in  the  general  rising,  and 
weighing  of  lives  to  follow,  all  this  will  be  reversed,  and  justice  dealt 
out  impartially  to  all.  God's  elect  will  then  hear  from  the  lips  of  the 
eternal  Judge  the  praise  due  to  them.  The  envious  sinners  will  be 
forced  to  exclaim:  "We  sinners  thought  their  lives  madness,  and 
their  end  without  honor;  behold  now  they  are  the  children  of  God 
and  their  lot  is  among  the  saints"  (Wisdom  v,  4,  5). 

Let  me  exhort  you  in  conclusion  to  let  the  great  truth  of  the 
seventh  article  of  the  Creed  penetrate  mind  and  heart.  The  words 
of  the  Creed,  if  not  acted  on  and  lived  up  to,  are  but  empty  sounds, 
the  mere  husks  of  thought.  And  what  truth  more  telling  and 
practical  than  that  involved  in  the  "judgment  to  come"? 

It  tells  us  that  we  shall  stand  one  and  all  in  presence  of  assem- 
bled mankind  to  hear  our  fate  for  eternity.  We  are  beings  answer- 
able to  God  for  our  conduct,  one  day  to  be  called  upon  to  give  an 
account  of  our  stewardship.  Let  us  sow  now  the  harvest  we 
should  fain  reap  then.  Let  our  thoughts  be  such  that  no  blush 
of  shame  would  rise  to  the  cheek  if  displayed  to  the  gaze  of  the 
whole  world.  Let  our  conversation  be  such  that  no  honest  ear 
would  be  stopped  rather  than  listen  to  it;  and  our  deeds  such  as 
to  call  forth  the  approbation  of  the  Supreme  Judge  of  heaven. 
May  it  be  one  day  said  to  us :  "Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant, 
because  thou  hast  been  faithful  in  few  things,  behold  I  place  thee 
over  many.  Enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  the  Lord." 


THE  FRUITS  OF  THE  SACRED  PASSION.  167 

XX.      THE   FRUITS   OF   THE   SACRED   PASSION. 

BY  THE  REV.  WILLIAM  GRAHAM. 

"And  the  Lord  was  pleased  to  bruise  him  in  infirmity;  if  he  shall  lay  down 
his  life  for  sin,  he  shall  see  a  long-lived  seed,  and  the  will  of  the  Lord  shall 
be  prosperous  in  his  hand." — Isaias  liii,  n. 

SYNOPSIS. — Introduction. — In  every  department  of  life  fruits  of  passion 
and  death  of  Christ  visible.  They  -would  heal  all  the  evils  of  society, 
moral  and  material,  were  it  not  for  perversity  of  free  will.  Withal  they 
heal  the  nations  even  unconsciously.  Our  object  not  material,  but  spiritual 
fruits  of  passion.  May  be  ranged  under  three  headings.  Summed  up  in 
word  Redeemer.  (7)  Freedom  from  sin,  font  of  all  evil.  (II)  Opening 
of  heaven  shut  by  sin.  (///)  Foundation  of  church,  wherein  Christ 
exercises  functions  of  King,  Priest,  and  Prophet;  to  carry  out  delivery 
of  men  from  effects  of  sin,  and  the  secure  application  of  fruits  of  passion. 

I.  Freedom  from  sin  highest  liberty;  subjection  to  it  greatest  bondage. 
All  human  woes  result  of  it.     No  creature  could  atone  for  it.     Infinite 
merit  necessary.    How  delivered.    By  blood  (i.  e.,  by  fruits  of  passion) 
of  lamb,  "that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world." 

II.  As  a  consequence  of  sin,  heaven  closed.    Lepers  cut  off  from  life 
of  city  and  social  intercourse.    So  leprosy  of  sin  shut  out  men  from  "city 
of  God"  and  "Company  of  Saints."    Our  Redeemer  through  merit  of 
His  passion  and  death  cleansed  our  sins  and  gained  for  us  admittance1. 
He  is  the  gate.   "He  openeth  and  no  man  shutteth." 

III.  Main  fruit  of  His  passion  foundation  of  "His  kingdom"  to  free 
men  from  slavery  of  sin,  and  impart  fruits  of  His  passion  till  end  of 
time.     He  is  described  as  "purchasing  and  sanctifying  His  Church^  by 
His  blood."    Texts.     For  this  end  He  abides  with  her  as  King,  Priest, 
and  Prophet,  ruling,  healing,  and  enlightening  each  and  every  member. 
All  may  thus  reap  the  fruits  of  His  sacred  passion  and  death. 

Conclusion. — Receive  not  gifts  of  God  in  vain.   He,  your  Redeemer, 
offers  all  "plentiful"  redemption. 

In  the  chapter  from  which  this  text  is  drawn,  Isaias  describes  with 
almost  the  minuteness  of  an  eye-witness  the  death  and  passion  of 
Our  Lord,  and  at  the  same  time  glows  with  His  subsequent  triumph. 
In  the  world's  march  onward  and  upward,  morally,  materially, 
and  intellectually,  the  influence  of  "the  travail  of  his  soul,"  i.  e.,  the 
fruits  of  His  passion  and  death,  has  admittedly  been  the  most  power- 
ful factor.  Explain  it  as  we  may,  Christ's  person,  His  work,  His 
life,  His  sufferings  and  death,  form  the  great  spiritual  driving  force 
of  the  world  to-day,  telling  even  on  races  and  nations  to  whom  His 
name  is  yet  barely  known.  Were  it  not  for  man's  perverse  will,  His 
message  would  remedy  all  ills,  and  realize  the  dreams  of  the  most 
advanced  reformers.  At  His  death  there  were  no  hospitals  for  the 


1 68  THE  CREED. 

sick,  no  help  or  pity  for  the  poor;  workingmen  were  all  slaves, 
women  were  held  of  no  account,  children  ruthlessly  sacrificed.  To- 
day progress  is  the  watchword  of  His  followers.  Where  Roman 
statesmanship,  Greek  philosophy  and  genius,  Jewish  religion,  failed 
in  uplifting  and  healing  the  nations,  Christ  succeeded. 

But  our  purpose  is  not  with  the  material  results  of  Our  Lord's 
life,  passion,  and  death.  They  are  only  the  indirect  or  reflex  fruits 
thereof.  His  mission  was  mainly  to  the  soul,  and  in  its  healing  the 
body  shared.  Each  nation,  it  is  true,  has  its  roll-call  of  great  men, 
warriors,  statesmen,  legislators,  to  whom  they  owe  an  undying 
debt  of  gratitude  for  noble  lives  spent  in  their  service.  But  the 
peculiarity  about  Our  Lord  is,  that  He  was  a  liberator  and  bene- 
factor, not  to  one  section  of  the  race,  but  to  all ;  and  that  He  bene- 
fited the  whole  world  more  by  His  passion  and  death  than  even  by 
His  life.  The  fruits  of  His  sufferings  reach  every  human  being, 
great  and  small,  whether  they  know  Him  or  not.  They  still  flow 
in  unremitting  streams  from  the  great  fountains  that  store  the 
Precious  Blood.  "And  Christ  died  for  all :  that  they  also  who  live, 
may  not  now  live  to  themselves,  but  to  Him  Who  died  for  them" 
(II  Cor.  v,  15).  "With  Him  is  plentiful  redemption."  "He  hath  re- 
deemed Israel  from  all  her  iniquities."  He  has  thus  earned  for  Him- 
self the  title  of  the  World's  Redeemer.  This  title  sums  up  in  one 
word  "the  fruits  of  Our  Lord's  passion  and  death" — the  subject  of 
our  discourse  to-day.  In  this  capacity  He  redeemed  us  (i)  from 
sin;  (2)  He  opened  the  gates  of  heaven,  and  lastly  (3)  He  founded 
a  great  indestructible  organization,  the  Church,  to  transmit  these 
fruits  of  His  passion  and  death  to  men's  souls  till  the  end  of  time ; 
and  wherein  He  ever  abides,  as  King,  Priest,  and  Prophet. 

I.  He  is  called  Redeemer  because  "by  his  precious  blood  he  hath 
redeemed  the  world,"  thereby  endowing  us  with  "the  freedom 
wherewith  Christ  has  made  us  free"  (Gal.  iv,  31).  Freedom  from 
what?  St.  John  furnishes  the  answer:  "He  washed  us  from  our 
sins  in  his  own  blood"  (Apoc.  i,  5).  To  win  for  us  freedom  from 
"sin  and  its  consequences"  was  therefore  the  first-fruits  of  His 
passion  and  death.  The  worst  form  of  bondage  is  sin,  the  highest 
form  of  freedom  is  that  of  conscience  relieved  of  its  weight  of 
sin.  All  human  suffering  is  in  the  main  but  the  effect  and  shadow 
of  guilt,  or  at  least  of  some  social  or  physical  legacy  originating  in 
it.  Sin  is  the  poisoned  root  of  all  evil, — the  source  of  all  slavery.  Re- 
move it,  and  the  world  would  become  a  paradise.  But  it  ever  has 


THE  FRUITS  OF  THE  SACRED  PASSION.  169 

pressed  with  irremovable  force  on  the  guilty  conscience.  Its  shadow 
is  ever  falling  on  our  world.  No  creature  could  remove  it,  neither 
angel  nor  saint,  however  eminent,  for  the  stamp  of  infinite  merit  is 
necessary  to  blot  out  the  infinite  curse,  "the  handwriting  of  death" 
against  us.  "No  brother  can  redeem  nor  shall  man  redeem" 
(Ps.  xlvii,  8). 

In  the  fall,  man  was  dethroned  and  his  nature  tainted.  "By  one 
man  sin  entered  into  the  world,  and  by  sin  death,"  and  so  death 
passed  upon  all  men,  in  whom  all  have  sinned  (Rom.  v,  12).  Who, 
then,  will  free  man  from  the  accumulated  evils  of  original  and  actual 
sin?  Who  can  reinstate  him  in  his  lost  privileges,  or  wash  his  sin- 
soiled  nature  clean?  Those  who  ignore  the  saving  doctrines  of  re- 
demption and  grace  have  no  remedy,  can  not  even  suggest  a  remedy 
for  what  is  admittedly  the  root  of  all  human  ills.  There  is  only  one 
who  is  "powerful  to  save,"  Jesus  Christ,  our  Redeemer.  "If  by  one 
man's  offense  death  reigned  through  one,  much  more  they  .  .  . 
shall  reign  in  life  through  one  Jesus  Christ.  Therefore  as  by  the 
offense  of  one  unto  all  men  to  condemnation,  so  also  by  the  justice  of 
one  unto  all  men  to  justification  of  life"  (Rom.  v,  17,  18).  He  is  "the 
Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world."  How  did  He, 
and  how  does  He,  take  away  sin?  By  His  voluntary  death  and 
passion.  From  the  fountain  of  pardon  and  strength  opened  on 
Calvary  flow  the  cleansing  streams  that  wash  the  leper  "whiter 
than  snow."  The  true  measure  of  sin  is  the  unfathomed  pain  of 
the  passion  and  death  of  Christ.  From  the  nature  of  the  remedy 
we  learn  the  virulence  of  the  disease.  With  our  eyes  fixed  on  a 
crucifix,  we  divine  the  malignity  of  sin  and  the  depth  of  love  of  our 
Redeemer,  who  let  Himself  be  "led  as  an  ox  to  the  slaughter"  for 
our  sakes. 

II.  Again,  not  only  did  our  Redeemer  by  His  passion  and  death 
blot  out  our  sins,  and  "nail  them  to  the  tree,"  He  thereby  also  opened 
the  gates  of  paradise,  shut  against  us.  The  fruit  of  atonement  in- 
volves also  the  fruit  of  eternal  life.  His  death  was  our  life.  True, 
man's  spirit  never  dies.  It  is  by  nature  immortal.  But  life  apart 
from  God,  cut  off  from  union  with  Him,  is,  in  a  disembodied  spirit, 
prolonged  spiritual  death.  Union  with  God  is  life,  severance  death. 
The  soul  diseased,  and  isolated  from  its  supreme  good,  is  like  a 
leper  cut  off  from  his  fellow  men  and  banished  from  the  city.  The 
leper's  life  is  but  a  living  death.  Nay,  on  account  of  actual  sin, 
the  soul  is  liable  to  positive  pains  and  penalties  as  well. 


I7o  THE  CREED. 

Heaven,  therefore,  in  the  sense  of  union  with  God,  and  an  abode 
of  unspeakable  delight,  was  shut  against  us.  No  human  being, 
however  just,  entered  heaven  till  Christ,  through  the  merits  of  His 
passion  and  death,  opened  its  sealed  doors.  Patriarchs,  and  prophets, 
and  priests,  saints  of  old  and  new  law,  form  part  of  the  triumphant 
procession  that  follows  Him  "who  leads  captivity  captive."  "He  open- 
eth  and  no  man  shutteth."  As  the  fruits  of  His  sacred  passion,  the 
portals  of  paradise  are  open  to  every  child  of  Adam.  There  is  not 
a  single  human  being,  howsoever  far  he  may  have  wandered  from 
God,  that  can  be  prevented  from  returning  to  "his  Father's  house." 
Let  him  only  repent  of  his  sins,  let  him  prove  himself  a  "man  of 
good  will,"  a  true  Israelite,  a  "child  of  Abraham,"  and  the  gates 
of  heaven  are  flung  open  at  his  approach.  Our  Redeemer  Himself  is 
the  gate.  He  is  ever  open  to  receive  us.  It  is  on  our  side  that  the  door 
is  closed,  and  He  who  was  "crucified,  dead  and  buried,"  even  stands 
"at  our  door  and  knocks."  "I  am  the  door.  By  me,  if  any  man  enter 
in,  he  shall  be  saved :  and  he  shall  go  in,  and  go  out,  and  shall  find 
pastures"  (John  x,  9). 

In  thus  saving  us  from  sin  and  opening  the  gates  of  heaven,  our 
Redeemer  also  delivered  us  from  Satan  and  hell,  usually  numbered 
among  the  fruits  of  His  sacred  passion.  In  freeing  from  sin  He 
freed  also  from  Satan  and  hell,  the  creatures  of  sin,  its  consequences 
and  results.  In  sinning  we  enlist  under  Satan  and  open  ourselves 
the  gates  of  hell. 

III.  But  the  main  fruit  of  the  passion  was  the  establishment  of 
His  church,  where  the  children  of  the  kingdom  share  the  "plenty  of 
their  Father's  house,"  and  the  "hungry  are  never  sent  empty  away." 
He  purchased  and  sanctified  her  by  the  price  of  His  precious  blood. 
"Christ  loved  the  church  and  delivered  himself  up  for  it,  that  he 
might  sanctify  it,  cleansing  it  by  the  laver  of  water  in  the  word  of 
life."  "That  he  might  present  it  to  himself  a  glorious  church  not 
having  spot  or  wrinkle,  or  any  such  thing,  but  that  it  should  be  holy 
and  without  blemish"  (Eph.  v,  27,  28). 

For  the  regular  and  permanent  distribution  among  men  of  the 
fruits  of  His  sacred  passion,  He  has  founded  a  spiritual  generation 
"who  have  his  words,"  and  who  shall  not  pass  away  "till  all  shall  be 
fulfilled."  This  family  of  God,  this  holy  assembly,  or  church, 
dowered  with  certain  graces,  powers,  and  divine  life  or  spirit,  at 
Pentecost,  is  indestructible;  because  He  meant  the  fruits  of  His 
sacred  passion  to  be  ever  within  reach.  They  hang  from  every  tree 
in  this  "enclosed  garden"  of  the  great  King.  Baptism  will  ever 


THE  FRUITS  OF  THE  SACRED  PASSION.  1 7 1 

continue  to  regenerate,  to  infuse  the  divine  life  purchased  for  us 
on  Calvary.  Penance  will  ever  cleanse,  and  restore,  and  pardon  sin, 
and  open  heaven.  Holy  Eucharist  will  ever  feed  the  hungry  crowds 
in  the  desert  of  life  with  the  body  "that  was  delivered  for  us,"  and 
the  "blood  that  was  shed  for  us ;"  Holy  Orders  will  ever  renew  the 
depleted  ranks  of  the  ministry;  and  Extreme  Unction  ever  fortify 
the  soul  in  its  journey  to  eternity.  These  are  all  fruits  of  His 
sacred  passion,  and  He  still  lives  in  His  church,  to  distribute  them. 
It  is  there  we  find  the  Redeemer,  sitting  on  His  throne,  and  "ruling 
in  the  house  of  David,  his  father."  He  is  no  shadowy,  historical 
figure  of  the  past.  "He  is  Christ,  living  to  make  intercession  for  us," 
not  a  Christ  of  the  books.  The  scope  of  research,  say  some,  is  to 
bring  Jesus  from  the  clouds,  to  get  away  from  the  Christ  of  the 
creeds  to  the  living  Christ  of  the  gospels.  But  we  claim  ever  to 
have  had  the  living  Christ  in  our  midst,  as  King,  Priest,  and 
Prophet,  ere  a  word  of  the  gospels  was  penned.  In  this  threefold 
capacity  He  ever  was,  and  ever  is,  bestowing  upon  us  the  fruits  of 
His  sacred  passion  and  death. 

He  is  King,  His  Kingship  is  no  empty  name.  "For  this  was  he 
born  and  did  he  come  into  the  world."  His  kingdom,  though  "not  of 
this  world,"  i.  e.,  not  meant  exclusively  to  promote  worldly  ends  and 
purposes,  is  yet  in  the  world,  true,  real,  visible,  so  that  all  may 
know  and  enter  it,  if  they  choose.  His  aim  as  its  King  is  to  impart  to 
His  subjects  the  gifts,  graces,  and  other  benefits  that  are  the  fruit  of 
His  passion  and  death.  By  His  cruel  death  and  sufferings,  and  His 
supreme  infinite  act  of  abasement  and  self-sacrifice,  He  won  a  right 
to  the  title  for  claiming  which  He  was  wrongly  put  to  death.  "Be- 
hold, I  have  given  Him  for  a  witness  to  the  people,  for  a  -leader  and 
a  master  to  the  gentiles"  (Is.  Iv,  4).  "For  he  that  made  thee  shall 
rule  over  thee,  the  Lord  of  hosts  is  his  name :  and  thy  Redeemer,  the 
Holy  One  of  Israel,  shall  be  called  the  God  of  all  the  earth"  (Ibid. 

liv,  5). 

The  very  shadow  of  His  kingship  in  the  Church  has  ever  healed 
and  uplifted  the  nations.  Every  step  forward  on  the  path  of  genuine 
progress  is  traceable,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the  presence  of  "his 
kingdom  on  earth,"  based  on  self-sacrifice,  reared  on  the  Cross. 

That  men  may  reap  the  fruits  of  His  sacred  passion,  we  must  ever 
pray  for  the  triumphant  advance  of  His  church,  that  in  the  spiritual 
desert,  called  the  world,  His  church  may  be  "ever  enlarging  the 
place  of  her  tent,  stretching  out  the  skins  of  her  tabernacles,  length- 
ening her  cords,  and  strengthening  her  stakes"  (Isaias  liv,  2). 


,72  THE  CREED. 

Furthermore  that  He,  our  Redeemer,  may  the  more  effectually 
convey  the  gifts  of  redemption,  the  fruits  of  His  passion,  to  the 
individual  soul,  He  is  also  Priest.  In  the  order  of  grace,  by  sacra- 
ments, and  sacrifice,  and  prayer,  He  is  ever,  as  Priest,  fitting  and 
adorning  our  souls  to  enable  them  to  join  one  day  the  church  tri- 
umphant. The  very  name  Christ  means  "anointed."  "Jesus  .  .  . 
is  made  a  high  priest  forever,  according  to  the  order  of  Melchise- 
dech."  The  great  work  of  ruling,  guiding,  and  sanctifying  His 
kingdom  at  large  goes  on  likewise  in  each  soul.  His  priestly  offices 
make  it  a  temple  of  God,  wherein  He  makes  it  His  delight  to  dwell. 
The  ministry  of  the  Church  is  but  an  extension  of  the  priesthood  of 
Christ.  Holy  Mass  is  said,  and  all  sacramental  rites  conveying  to 
the  soul  the  fruits  of  the  passion  are  administered  in  His  name. 

Lastly,  our  Redeemer  conveys  the  fruits  of  His  sacred  passion  in 
His  capacity  of  Prophet.  Prophets  of  old  were  anointed  to  denote 
their  function  of  voicing  God  to  His  people.  In  like  manner  Christ 
speaks  through  His  unerring  Church  the  words  of  divine  truth; 
and  from  "Peter's  bark"  ever  addresses  the  multitudes  lingering 
on  the  shores  of  time.  The  fruits  of  the  passion  are  not  only  balm 
to  the  heart,  but  light  to  the  mind.  The  Cross  is  not  only  a  sign  of 
"the  way,"  but  a  chair  "of  truth."  It  is  light  to  the  eye  as  well  as  a 
guide  to  the  feet.  In  the  knotty  problems  bearing  on  faith  and 
morals,,  the  Church,  in  this  dark  world  of  ours,  is  as  a  ring  of  light, 
a  beacon  on  a  hilltop.  And  why?  Because  Christ  exercises  His 
prophetical  office  within  her,  and  is  He  not  "the  world's  true  light," 
"the  light  shining  in  darkness,"  though  "the  darkness  does  not 
comprehend  it"? 

Conclusion. — In  conclusion,  dear  brethren,  let  me  exhort  you  "not 
to  receive  the  gifts  of  God  in  vain,"  i.  e.,  not  to  put  any  hindrance 
to  the  work  of  our  Redeemer  in  your  souls.  His  desire  is  "to  be 
with  the  children  of  men,"  to  fill  them  with  the  fruits  of  His  sacred 
passion.  This  is  "plentiful  redemption,"  to  have  our  sins  cleansed, 
the  doors  of  heaven  thrown  open  to  us,  to  enter  "His  kingdom" 
and  see  the  "Lamb  that  was  slain"  reigning  among  His  elect  as  King, 
Priest,  and  Prophet.  Let  us  taste  the  fruits  of  His  sacred  passion, 
and  "see  how  sweet"  it  is  to  have  our  Redeemer  reigning  in  our 
hearts  as  King,  sacrificing  all  that  is  displeasing  to  Him  therein,  and 
offering  them,  as  Priest,  "a  pure  oblation  to  his  Father" ;  and  finally, 
as  Prophet,  "teaching  us  the  way  of  God  in  truth,"  for  "he  that  fol- 
loweth  me,"  says  Our  Lord,  "walketh  not  in  darkness." 


THE  THIRD  PERSON:  TRUE  GOD. 


*73 


XXL   THE  THIRD  PERSON:  TRUE  GOD. 

BY   THE   REV.    THOMAS   J.   GERRARD. 

"And  I  will  ask  the  Father,  and  he  shall  give  you  another  Paraclete,  that 
he  may  abide  with  you  forever." — John  xiv,  16. 

i 

SYNOPSIS. — Introduction. — Our  sanctification  appropriated  to  the  Holy 
Spirit.  This  sanctification  works  along  the  lines  of  nature.  If,  therefore, 
we  are  to  co-operate  intelligently  and  sympathetically,  we  must  know 
as  much  as  possible  of  the  nature  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  His  operations. 
Our  theme  therefore  is:  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  true  God;  that  He  pro- 
ceeds as  the  interwoven  love  of  the  Father  and  the  Son;  that  He  has  a 
temporal  mission  which  is  the  sanctification  of  men. 

Exposition. — /.  The  Holy  Ghost  is  God.  The  truth  of  personality  and 
divinity  of  the  Holy  Spirit  involved  in  the  mystery  of  the  Blessed  Trinity. 
Our  information,  therefore,  must  be  sought  in  revelation.  From  con- 
science we  can  reason  back  to  a  God  of  love;  but  the  procession  and  mis- 
sion of  the  Third  Person  can  only  be  known  from  the  word  of  God.  (a) 
Scripture  represents  the  Holy  Spirit  with  the  Father  and  the  Son  as 
distinct  from  creatures,  yet  distinct  from  the  Father  and  the  Son.  If< 
Father  and  Son  are  God,  therefore  Holy  Ghost  is  God.  Holy  Spirit 
assumes  form  of  a  dove.  Numbered  with  Father  and  Son  under  one 
name.  St.  Paul  speaks  of  Christ  and  Holy  Spirit  as  both  being  God. 
(&)  Scripture  ascribes  actions  to  the  Holy  Spirit  which  could  be  ascribed 
only  to  God.  Creation.  Inspiration.  Cause  of  Incarnation.  Life-giver  to  the 
Church.  Reader  of  the  secrets  of  God. 

II.  The  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son  as  from 
one  principle.  The  truth  not  a  mere  theological  contention,  but  a  revela- 
tion with  practical  consequences.  Shows  us  perfect  love.  Scripture 
speaks  of  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  as  the  Spirit  of  God.  The  Son  is  often 
represented  as  sending  the  Holy  Spirit.  Christ  symbolised  the  procession 
from  the  Son  by  His  breathing  on  the  apostles.  The  Father  and  Son 
have  all  things  in  common  except  the  relations  of  Fatherhood  and  Sonship; 
therefore  they  breathe  forth  the  Holy  Spirit  as  by  one  principle.  Spir- 
itual value  of  this  truth. 

HI.  The  Holy  Ghost  has  a  temporal  and  earthly  mission.  God 
willed  to  have  an  external  glory.  To  this  end  sent  the  Holy  Spirit  who  is 
(a)  Amor,  (b)  the  Donum  Dei,  (c~)  Digitus  Paternae  dexterae,  (d) 
Consolator. 

Conclusion. — The  dogma  makes  us  realise  the  truth  of  God  living 
within  us.  Man  has  a  twofold  dignity — body,  temple  of  the  Holy  Ghost; 
soul,  spouse  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  This  gives  the  whole  meaning  to  life. 
Without  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  life  is  nothing.  With  the 
indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit  it  is  everything. 

The  direct  work  of  our  sanctification  is  attributed  to  the  Holy 
Ghost.  It  is  really  the  work  of  all  three  Persons  of  the  Blessed 
Trinity.  But  just  as  creation  is  appropriated  to  the  Father,  and 
redemption  to  the  Son,  so  sanctification  is  appropriated  to  the  Holy 


I74  THE  CREED. 

Ghost.  This  work  of  sanctification,  however,  is  not  one  of  magic,  not 
something  which  takes  place  without  our  knowledge  and  co-opera- 
tion. No !  the  Holy  Spirit  works  along  the  lines  of  nature.  He  takes 
the  faculties  of  man  as  they  are  and  spiritualizes  them,  and  uses 
them  as  instruments  in  the  working  out  of  His  designs.  If,  there- 
fore, we  are  to  act  in  harmony  with  the  working  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
it  must  not  be  by  passiVely  and  blindly  relinquishing  ourselves  to 
His  influence,  but  by  actively  and  intelligently  entering  into  sym- 
pathy with  His  work.  And  in  order  to  do  this  it  will  be  needful  to 
possess  as  much  knowledge  as  we  can  of  the  nature  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  and  His  operations.  If  we  are  to  co-operate  in  full  sympathy 
with  Him  it  must  be  from  an  intelligent  conviction  that  He  is  true 
God,  and  consequently  our  true  Sanctifier.  This,  then,  will  be  our 
theme  in  the  following  consideration:  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  true 
God;  that  He  comes  as  the  united  love  of  the  Father  and  the  Son; 
that  His  mission  on  earth  is  to  make  men  holy;  that  in  a  word  He 
is  the  fulfilment  of  Christ's  promise :  "And  I  will  ask  the  Father,  and 
he  shall  give  you  another  Paraclete,  that  he  may  abide  with  you 
forever." 

In  the  course  of  history  the  human  spirit  has  wandered  off  in 
various  ways  from  the  catholic  truth  concerning  the  nature  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  There  is,  however,  one  error  which  characterizes  our 
own  times  and  which,  in  a  way,  includes  those  of  times  past  It 
regards  the  Holy  Spirit  merely  as  a  certain  power  and  operation  of 
God.  It  denies  that  He  is  a  real  person  separate  from  the  Father  and 
the  Son.  It  claims  that  He  is  the  work  of  God,  but  not  God  Himself. 
Now  since  the  doctrine  of  the  nature  of  the  Holy  Spirit  has  its 
roots  in  the  mystery  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  the  deepest  and  most 
inscrutable  of  mysteries,  it  is  evident  that  we  can  not  seek  for  our 
information  concerning  it  in  reason.  Our  source  must  be  in  the 
revealed  word  of  God.  We  all  have  a  conscience,  and  we  can  each 
of  us  feel  with  St.  Paul  two  powers  within  us,  one  urging  us  to  good 
and  the  other  to  evil.  Knowing  our  weakness  we  can  reason  that 
the  good  power  within  us  comes  from  another  and  is  not  of  us.  We 
might  even  argue  that  that  other  was  the  Supreme  God.  But  we 
could  never  arrive  at  the  truth  which  declares  a  personal  Spirit,  who 
is  God,  who  comes  from  the  bosom  of  God,  who  comes  as  the  sign 
of  mutual  love  between  Father  and  Son,  comes  to  dwell  in  the  souls 
of  men  forever.  For  that  we  must  go  to  God's  revealed  word. 

It  must  be  noticed  then,  first  of  all,  that,  in  quite  a  large  number 


THE  THIRD  PERSON:  TRUE  GOD.  175 

of  Scriptural  references,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  numbered  either  with 
the  Father  or  with  the  Son,  or  with  both,  as  constituting  with  them 
a  society  quite  distinct  from  creatures.  At  the  same  time,  however, 
the  Third  Person  is  always  counted  as  distinct  from  the  First  or 
Second.  By  being  numbered  with  the  Father  and  the  Son  He  is 
revealed  as  God.  By  being  counted  as  distinct  from  the  Father  and 
the  Son  He  is  revealed  as  a  separate  Person.  Thus,  at  the  baptism 
of  Jesus,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  represented  as  coming  from  God  the 
Father,  yet  so  distinct  from  Him  as  to  assume  the  bodily  shape  of  a 
dove.  Again,  Our  Lord  Himself  implies  the  distinct  divine  person- 
ality in  His  words  when  sending  forth  His  disciples  to  teach  all 
nations.  "Going,  therefore,  teach  ye  all  nations,  baptizing  them  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost." 
Here  Our  Lord  makes  the  revelation  of  the  Blessed  Trinity,  the 
foundation  both  of  the  Church's  doctrine  and  external  religion.  He 
gives  a  rite  by  which  all  people  may  be  received  into  the  Church. 
They  are  to  be  baptized  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  Holy  Spirit  is  placed  equal  with,  yet  dis- 
tinct from,  the  Father  and  the  Son.  He  is  made  with  them  the  object 
of  supreme  worship.  The  baptism  is,  as  the  Fathers  were  so  very 
fond  of  saying,  not  in  the  names  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost, 
but  in  the  one  name,  herein  signifying  one  God,  the  indivisible  and 
perfect  Trinity.  Further,  St.  Paul,  writing  to  the  Romans,  begs 
their  prayers  in  the  name  of  Jesus  Christ  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit :  "I 
beseech  you,  therefore,  brethren,  through  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
and  by  the  charity  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  that  you  help  me  in  your 
prayers  for  me  to  God."  In  his  letter  to  the  Corinthians  he  identifies 
the  interests  of  Christ  with  those  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  "Wherefore 
I  give  you  to  understand  that  no  man  speaking  by  the  spirit  of  God, 
saith  Anathema  to  Jesus.  And  no  man  can  say  the  Lord  Jesus,  but 
by  the  Holy  Ghost."  Again,  in  the  conclusion  to  his  second  epistle: 
"The  grace  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  charity  of  God,  and  the 
communication  of  the  Holy  Ghost  be  with  you  all.  Amen."  The 
words  of  St.  Peter  to  Ananias  tell  explicitly  of  the  divinity  of  the 
Holy  Spirit.  "Ananias,  why  hath  Satan  tempted  thy  heart,  that  thou 
shouldst  lie  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  by  fraud  keep  part  of  the  price 
of  the  land  ?  .  .  .  Thou  hast  not  lied  to  men  but  to  God." 

Our  classical  proof  of  the  divinity  of  the  Holy  Spirit  is  from  St. 
John's  account  of  Our  Lord's  discourse  at  the  last  supper.  Christ 
here  speaks  as  man:  "I  will  ask  the  Father  and  he  shall  give  you 


i76  THE  CREED. 

another  Paraclete."  As  God,  He  Himself  would  send  the  Para- 
clete. The  Paraclete  is  one  who  is  called;  that  is,  an  advocate. 
Christ  is  also  an  advocate,  and  so  He  says :  "I  will  send  you  another 
advocate,  one  who  will  plead  my  cause  in  your  hearts,  the  spirit  of 
truth,  one  who  will  bear  witness  of  me."  He  will  not  leave  us  or- 
phans, but  will  come  again,  first,  bodily  in  the  Resurrection;  then, 
spiritually,  by  the  Paraclete,  who  will  abide  with  us  forever. 

Next  we  may  see  how  the  sacred  writers  ascribed  divine  actions  to 
the  Holy  Spirit.  He  is  claimed  to  have  the  power  of  creation.  God 
could  not  delegate  such  a  power  to  a  creature.  The  production  of 
something  out  of  nothing  is  an  infinite  act  and  only  a  being  of  infinite 
power  could  do  it.  This  act  is  ascribed  to  the  Holy  Spirit:  "Thou 
shalt  send  forth  thy  Spirit  and  they  shall  be  created  and  thou  shalt 
renew  the  face  of  the  earth."  He  is  claimed  to  have  the  power  of 
inspiration.  The  essential  meaning  of  inspiration  is  that  the  writing 
so  inspired  has  God  for  its  author.  St.  Peter  in  his  second  epistle 
ascribes  the  authorship  to  the  Holy  Spirit.  Here  the  contrast  is 
between  the  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and  the  will  of  man:  "For 
prophecy  came  not  by  the  will  of  man  at  any  time,  but  the  holy  men 
of  God  spoke,  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost."  The  message  of  the 
angel  Gabriel  told  of  the  Holy  Spirit  as  the  cause  of  the  Incarnation. 
That  the  divine  and  human  natures  should  be  united  in  one  person 
was  a  work  only  of  divinity.  Thus,  then,  did  our  lady  receive  the 
news  of  the  word  made  flesh:  "The  Holy  Ghost  shall  come  upon 
thee,  and  the  power  of  the  Most  High  shall  overshadow  thee.  And 
therefore,  the  holy  which  shall  be  born  of  thee  shall  be  called  the 
Son  of  God."  The  Church  was  to  be  the  continuation  of  the  Incar- 
nation. So,  just  as  the  Holy  Spirit  was  the  cause  of  the  Incarna- 
tion, so  also  is  He  the  cause  of  its  continuation.  St.  Paul  tells  us 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  appointed  bishops  to  rule  the  Church  of  God, 
and  again  that  they  were  placed  there  by  God.  Our  Lord's  promise 
after  the  last  supper  contains  the  same  truth:  "The  Paraclete,  the 
Holy  Ghost,  whom  the  Father  will  send  in  my  name,  he  will  teach 
you  all  things,  and  bring  all  things  to  your  mind  whatsoever  I  shall 
have  said  to  you." 

A  powerful  argument  for  the  divinity  of  Christ  was  His  power  of 
reading  hearts.  This  power  is  also  a  prerogative  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
And  more,  not  only  can  the  Holy  Spirit  see  through  the  hearts  of 
men,  but  also,  because  He  is  God,  He  can  see  through  the  infinite 
knowledge  of  God's  mind :  "For  the  Spirit  searcheth  all  things,  yea, 


THE  THIRD  PERSON:  TRUE  GOD.  177 

the  deep  things  of  God.  For  what  man  knoweth  the  things  of  a 
man,  but  the  spirit  of  a  man  that  is  in  him  ?  So  the  things  also  that 
are  of  God  no  man  knoweth,  but  the  Spirit  of  God."  Here,  then, 
are  a  few  of  the  inspired  and  revealed  records  of  the  divinity  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  It  is  a  great  mystery.  The  human  mind  could  not 
have  reached  it  without  revelation.  But  once  the  revelation  has 
been  made,  the  human  heart  accepts  it  as  one  of  the  primary  theo- 
logical truths  for  which  it  has  been  prepared.  Throughout  the  his- 
tory of  the  Christian  people  its  worship  of  the  Holy  Ghost  as 
God  has  always  been  equal  to  its  worship  of  the  Father  and  the  Son 
as  God.  "Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to  the  Holy 
Ghost." 

The  point  of  doctrine  next  in  importance  after  the  divinity  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  is  what  is  known  as  the  double  procession  of  the  Holy 
Spirit.  This  truth  asserts  that  the  Holy  Spirit  comes  both  from  the 
Father  and  the  Son.  It  is  a  denial  of  the  heresy  of  the  Orthodox 
Church,  which  claims  that  the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  from  the  Father 
alone.  This  distinction  between  the  truth  and  the  error  is  not,  as 
some  have  supposed,  a  mere  quarrel  over  formulas.  It  is  not  merely 
a  question  as  to  whether  we  shall  have  an  extra  word  in  our  Creed. 
But  it  is  a  truth,  the  denial  of  which  robs  the  Christian  revelation  of 
one  of  its  most  superb  beauties.  Of  course  the  chief  reason  why  -we 
accept  the  truth  is  because  Christ  has  revealed  it;  and  we  should 
accept  it  as  such  regardless  of  consequences.  On  closer  examination, 
however,  we  find  that  the  truth  is  fraught  with  practical  issues  of 
the  most  momentous  kind.  Christ  is  not  only  the  truth,  but  He  is 
also  the  way  and  the  life.  The  procession  of  the  Holy  Spirit  from 
the  Father  and  the  Son  is  a  truth  revealed  to  us  to  show  us  the  way 
and  the  life.  It  gives  us  the  type  of  perfect  love.  It  shows  us  the 
origin  of  the  Spirit  of  love,  who  abides  with  us  forever.  No  wonder 
then  that  the  Church,  which  has  retained  this  truth,  has  been  so 
fruitful  in  those  experts  in  love,  the  saints  of  the  Catholic  Church; 
and  no  wonder  that  the  Church  which  has  rejected  it  has  been  so 
sterile  in  them. 

The  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit  from  the  Son  is  seen  from  numer- 
ous passages  which  speak  of  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  or  of  the  Spirit  of 
Jesus,  just  as  other  passages  speak  of  the  Spirit  of  the  Father,  or  the 
Spirit  of  God.  Thus  St.  Paul  to  the  Galatians  writes:  "And  be- 
cause you  are  sons,  God  hath  sent  the  Spirit  of  his  Son  into  your 
hearts,  crying,  Abba,  Father."  Again  to  the  Philippians  he  says: 


I78  THE  CREED. 

"For  I  know  that  this  shall  fall  out  to  me  unto  salvation  through 
your  prayers,  and  the  supply  of  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  Christ."  Then 
in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  we  read  of  St.  Paul  and  his  companions. 
"And  when  they  had  passed  through  Phrygia,  and  the  country  of 
Galatia,  they  were  forbidden  by  the  Holy  Ghost  to  preach  the  word 
in  Asia.  And  when  they  were  come  into  Mysia,  they  attempted  to  go 
into  Bithynia,  and  the  Spirit  of  Jesus  suffered  them  not."  Again 
the  procession  of  the  Holy  Spirit  from  the  Son  is  implied  in  all 
those  places  which  speak  of  the  Son  sending  the  Spirit.  "If  I  go 
not,  the  Paraclete  will  not  come  to  you,  but  if  I  go  I  will  send  him 
to  you."  Indeed  it  has  been  the  teaching  of  many  of  the  Fathers 
of  the  Church  that  Christ  meant  to  signify  this  when  He  breathed 
on  His  disciples  and  said  to  them :  "Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost." 

Further,  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Spirit  from  the  Father  and  the 
Son  is  not  as  it  were  the  result  of  two  causes.  It  is  the  result  of  the 
Father  and  the  Son  acting  together  in  one  operation.  Christ  said: 
"All  things  whatsoever  the  Father  hath  are  mine.  Therefore  I  said 
that  he  (the  Holy  Spirit)  shall  receive  of  mine  and  show  it  to  you." 
With  the  exception  of  fatherhood  and  sonship,  the  Father  and  Son 
have  all  things  in  common.  Both  Father  and  Son  in  one  combined 
breath  breathe  forth  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Now  we  are  in  a  position  to  see  the  practical  value  of  our  theology. 
The  Holy  Spirit  comes  to  us  as  the  personified  love  of  the  Father  and 
Son.  The  eternal  Father,  seeing  the  vast  ocean  of  His  own  infinite 
beauty,  by  understanding  it  produces  the  image  of  it,  His  eternal 
Son.  The  Father  and  the  Son,  looking  at  each  other's  incom- 
parable beauty,  love  each  other  with  an  infinite  love.  This  mutual 
love  becomes  interwoven  and  forms  a  third  divine  personality,  the 
Spirit  of  love.  Here,  then,  we  have  the  perfect  type  of  love.  It  is 
by  the  Holy  Spirit  coming  as  the  united  love  of  the  Father  and 
the  Son  that  God  loves  Himself,  and  has  loved  Himself  throughout 
eternity.  Not  without  the  Holy  Spirit,  proceeding  in  the  way  in 
which  Catholic  truth  says  He  proceeds,  could  God  give  to  Himself 
His  intrinsic  eternal  glory. 

God,  however,  chose  by  that  same  Holy  Spirit  to  create  for  Him- 
self an  external  love  and  glory.  He  would  make  a  human  heart  and 
mind  so  that  through  them  He  could  receive  a  creation's  praise.  In 
this  aspect  the  Holy  Spirit  is  called  the  gift  of  God :  "the  charity  of 
God  is  poured  forth  in  our  hearts,  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  given 
to  us."  Every  act  of  love  therefore  which  we  make  is  but  God's 


THE  THIRD  PERSON:  TRUE  GOD.  179 

Spirit  coming  to  us  and  returning  through  us  to  Himself.  He  is 
thus  the  source  of  all  those  gifts  which  draw  us  nearer  to  God.  The 
rite  by  which  we  are  raised  to  the  position  of  heirs  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  is  the  washing  with  water,  the  Sacrament  which  sym- 
bolizes and  causes  the  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  our  souls.  "Amen, 
amen,  I  say  to  thee,  unless  a  man  be  born  again  of  water,  and  of  tKe 
Holy  Ghost,  he  can  not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God."  If  we  have 
fallen  away  from  baptismal  innocence,  and  wish  to  be  restored  again 
to  God's  favor,  it  must  be  by  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit  acting 
through  priestly  ministry.  "Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost.  Whose  sins 
you  shall  forgive  they  are  forgiven  them;  and  whose  sins  you  shall 
retain  they  are  retained."  Indeed,  whether  our  graces  come  through 
the  Sacraments  or  outside  the  Sacraments,  whether  they  be  the 
graces  of  faith,  wisdom,  knowledge,  healing,  tongues,  prophecy,  "in 
all  these  things  one  and  the  same  Spirit  worketh,  dividing  to  every 
one  according  as  He  will." 

We  do  not  know  the  laws  by  which  He  acts.  The  Spirit  breatheth 
where  He  will.  Only  this  law  we  know — that  He  is  ever  with  us 
with  sufficient  light  and  strength  for  all  our  needs.  He  is  called  the 
finger  of  God's  right  hand.  Therefore  it  is  that  He  is  always 
leading  us  gently  and  sweetly  even  though  we  be  unconscious  of  His 
influence.  We  may  seem  at  times  to  be  making  our  own  spiritual 
careers  and  saving  our  souls  by  methods  which  we  judge  best  and 
safest.  But  as  we  grow  older  we  begin  to  realize  that  it  is  another 
who  guides  us.  We  had  thought  we  were  choosing  Him  when  in 
reality  He  was  choosing  us.  It  is  not  necessary  to  have  lived  very 
long  in  order  to  look  back  on  the  past  and  recognize  the  control  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  Strangely  enough  we  see  this  when  it  is  all  over, 
and  either  can  not,  or  will  not,  see  it  when  it  is  taking  place.  We 
are  like  the  disciples  who  walked  with  Our  Lord  to  Emmaus.  They 
did  not  realize  on  the  way  to  whom  they  were  talking.  But  when, 
at  supper,  He  made  Himself  known,  then  they  remembered  how 
their  hearts  had  burned  within  them. 

The  action  of  the  Holy  Spirit  within  us,  strengthening  us  in  all 
our  spiritual  efforts,  gives  Him  the  title  of  Comforter.  In  this 
office  He  uses  a  special  Sacrament,  the  laying  on  of  hands.  By 
the  strength  received  in  Confirmation  we  are  fortified  against  dan- 
gers to  our  faith,  and  through  our  faith  against  dangers  to  our 
moral  life.  In  the  constant,  daily,  hourly  struggle  it  is  the  Holy 
Spirit  who  is  our  mainstay. 


i8o  THE  CREED. 

Thou  of  Comforters  the  best, 

Be  our  soul's  most  welcome  guest, 

Sweet  refreshment  here  below. 

This,  then,  is  the  practical  fruit  to  be  gathered  from  the  dogma  of 
the  Holy  Spirit.  We  know  that  a  divine  person,  who  is  the  love  of 
God  and  the  gift  of  God,  has  come  to  us  as  our  Guide  and  Com- 
forter, to  dwell  within  us  and  by  His  indwelling  to  make  us  holy,  to 
foster  and  bring  to  perfection  our  everlasting  life.  In  the  olden 
times  God  revealed  Himself  as  the  God  of  Might,  a  God  whom  His 
people  served  with  a  service  of  fear.  In  the  Gospel  times  He  re- 
vealed Himself  as  a  God  of  Love,  a  God  enjoying  the  happiness  of 
His  threefold  personality,  a  God  clothed  in  human  flesh,  and  living 
among  His  created  children.  A  further  revelation,  however,  showed 
Him  to  be  a  God  living  not  merely  among  us,  but  within  us.  By  the 
mission  of  His  Holy  Spirit  He  enters  into  every  pore  and  fiber  of  our 
being,  so  that,  if  we  do  not  positively  hinder  His  coming,  He  will 
mingle  His  life  with  ours  so  as  to  live  in  us  and  we  in  Him.  "If  any 
man  will  love  me  he  will  keep  my  word,  and  my  Father  will  love 
him,  and  we  will  come  to  him,  and  make  our  abode  with  him." 

By  this  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit  man  receives  a  new  twofold 
dignity.  His  body  becomes  the  temple  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  "Know 
you  not  that  you  are  the  temple  of  God,  and  that  the  Spirit  of  God 
dwelleth  in  you  ?"  His  soul  becomes  the  spouse  of  God.  And  here 
it  is  that  man  finds  the  meaning  of  his  life.  The  human  soul  and  the 
Holy  Spirit  are  as  the  bride  and  the  spouse  of  the  Canticle.  "Who  is 
this  that  cometh  up  from  the  desert  leaning  on  her  beloved  ?"  Lean- 
ing on  Him  she  is  all.  Turning  from  Him,  she  is  no  one.  Hence 
St.  Paul  says :  "If  I  have  not  love  I  am  nothing."  God  is  love.  And 
if  that  love  be  absent:  if  the  Holy  Spirit  mingle  not  His  life  with 
mine :  if  I  do  not  act  by  His  action,  and  live  by  His  life,  then  is  my 
life  meaningless  and  all  my  aims  and  efforts  and  aspirations  are  but 
as  an  empty  dream  and  a  tale  that  is  told. 


THE  CHURCH.  j8i 


XXII.    THE  CHURCH. 

BY   THE    REV.    FRANCIS    M.    HARVEY. 
"I  believe  in  the  Holy  Catholic  Church." 

SYNOPSIS. — The  various  names  given  the  Church  in  Holy  Scripture.  The 
notion  underlying  each.  Meaning  of  the  term  in  its  broad  sense.  In 
this  sense  it  belongs  to  all  ages;  is  not  limited  to  external  organization, 
yet  is  the  divine  plan  for  the  salvation  of  souls.  Hence  the  necessity  of 
membership.  Church  is  a  visible  society,  visible  in  her  founder,  in  her 
members,  etc.  Christ  laid  the  foundations:  (a)  In  His  private  life  by 
inculcating  the  virtues  poverty,  humility,  obedience,  etc.;  in  His  public  life 
by  forming  and  instructing  His  Apostles.  The  character  of  the  men 
chosen  adapted  to  the  work  to  be  done;  to  the  lessons  to  be  taught;  to  the 
souls  to  be  drawn.  Life  given  to  the  Church  by  the  Holy  Spirit  on  Pente- 
cost. Church  a  live  organism;  Christ  lives  in  it  and  gives  it  its  life 
blood.  Gratitude  due  to  God.  Practical  gratitude  by  love  and  obedience. 

God's  Church  is  spoken  of  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures  under  many 
figures.  It  is  presented  as  a  city  whose  foundations  "are  in  the 
Holy  Mountains ;"  a  vine  with  its  branches ;  a  government ;  a  temple, 
a  bride,  and  again,  a  body,  whose  head  is  Christ. 

This  last  figure — the  favorite  of  St.  Paul — is  by  far  the  most  ex- 
pressive. When  the  Church  is  spoken  of  as  a  bride,  the  love,  single- 
ness of  purpose,  community  of  interest,  and  ceaseless  devotion  that 
exist  between  Christ  and  His  Church  are  typified.  When  we  hear 
it  called  a  city,  or  a  form  of  government,  we  are  reminded  of  the 
general  unity  of  interest  and  aims  that  should  be  found  among 
the  members  of  the  Church.  The  figure  of  the  temple  and  its  corner- 
stone bring  out  the  necessary  cohesion  that  must  exist  in  the 
Church;  but  the  image  wherein  Christ  is  represented  as  the  Head 
and  the  Church  as  the  Body,  comprises  all  these  and  adds  something 
more.  It  suggests  the  unity  and  independence  of  one  part  with 
another,  and  gives,  too,  the  idea  of  life,  life  springing  from  one 
central  principle  and  diffusing  itself  through  all  the  members;  the 
idea  of  a  sensitive  participation  of  joy  and  sorrow  in  the  various 
parts  of  the  living  organism ;  the  idea  of  growth  and  adaptability  to 
different  times  and  conditions ;  the  idea  too  of  a  living  soul. 

Such  are  some  of  the  Scriptural  answers  to  the  question,  "What 
is  the  Church?"  The  theologians,  following  the  teachings  of  the 


!82  THE  CREED. 

apostles  and  of  the  fathers,  tell  us  that  that  great  assemblage  under 
the  Headship  of  Christ  are  all  who  are  bound  to  the  Saviour  by  the 
ties  of  faith  and  of  love.  This  defines  the  Church  in  what  is  called 
the  widest  sense,  and  embraces  in  its  meaning  all  the  just,  whether 
this  present  life  holds  them  in  the  flesh,  or  the  shadows  of  purgatory 
enfold  them,  or  the  white  light  of  heaven  has  received  them.  In- 
deed, according  to  St.  Augustine,  the  angels  are  within  the  fellowship 
of  the  Church,  since  they  are  united  to  Christ  as  their  Head,  by 
supreme  and  most  intimate  love. 

From  this  it  necessarily  follows  that  the  Catholic  Church  reaches 
back  to  the  earliest  dawn  of  history.  As  St.  Gregory  the  Great  says, 
"The  Church  embraces  all  the  just,  from  Abel  to  the  last  righteous 
man  who  shall  live  upon  earth." 

The  Church  has  been  likened  to  a  heaven-descended  river,  issuing 
from  beneath  the  throne  of  God,  and  flowing  triumphantly  down  the 
ages  till  it  loses  itself  in  the  bosom  of  eternity;  covering  the  earth 
with  the  knowledge  and  love  of  God  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea. 

Nor  in  the  ages  before  Christ  did  the  Church  want  an  organiza- 
tion and  a  history.  To  the  ears  of  Abraham,  the  Syrian  shepherd, 
came  the  voice  of  God  bidding  him,  "Get  thee  out  of  thy  country,*' 
and  obediently  he  went  forth,  the  first  missionary  of  God's  Church 
under  the  written  law,  and  became  the  founder  of  a  divine  society. 
All  the  world's  religious  truth  was  gathered  into  Judaism,  the  sum 
increasing  and  growing  more  definite,  from  Abraham  on  the  Plains 
of  Mambre,  to  the  last  prophet  who  gave  his  inspired  message  to  a 
listening  world;  and  all  this  truth  and  more  is  the  treasure  of  the 
Catholic  Church  to-day.  St.  Paul,  his  poet's  heart  throbbing  under 
the  logician's  armor,  exultingly  sings  the  glory  of  Christ's  Church, 
and  reminds  the  Jews  that  their  fathers  did  drink  of  Christ  in  the 
wilderness;  and  the  Eternal  Word  Himself  shows  us  His  teaching 
running  through  the  warp  and  woof  of  human  life.  He  bids  us  un- 
derstand, that,  as  the  Word,  He  has  not  only  made  the  world,  but 
inspired  its  religious  teaching  from  the  beginning,  and  that  in  His 
earthly  mission  He  is  binding  His  truths  together  and  adding  to 
them ;  establishing  the  law  of  grace  upon  the  written  law  of  Moses, 
which  in  turn  rests  upon  the  law  of  nature.  The  Saviour  tells  us 
unmistakably  that  His  whole  thought  is  for  His  Church — He  would 
reconsecrate  it,  and  with  superb  additions,  make  it  the  wonder  of  the 
world;  from  the  scattered  fragments  build  up  a  New  Jerusalem. 
He  seems  to  murmur  to  His  Church  in  the  words  of  the  Prophet 


THE  CHURCH.  !83 

Isaias,  "O  poor  little  one,  tossed  with  tempest  without  all  comfort, 
behold  I  will  lay  thy  stones  in  order,  and  will  lay  thy  foundations 
with  sapphires.  And  I  will  make  thy  bulwarks  of  jasper;  and  thy 
gates  of  graven  stones,  and  all  thy  borders  of  desirable  stones.  All 
thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord ;  and  great  shall  be  the  peace 
of  thy  children." 

As  we  have  seen,  the  Church  in  this  broad  sense,  or  as  we  say,  the 
Soul  of  the  Church,  has  existed  from  the  beginning.  The  Soul  of 
the  Church  is  nothing  other  than  the  union  of  the  heart  and  will 
with  God.  Unlike  the  human  soul,  it  is  not  limited  to  the  external 
organization.  It  may  exist  in  the  midst  of  the  heresy  and  schism 
innocently  professed,  and  bind  to  the  Redeemer  hearts  that  have 
no  visible  union  with  the  body  of  the  Church.  Still  we  must  remem- 
ber that  the  Church  of  Christ,  the  Catholic  Church,  is  "the  divinely 
appointed  organization  for  saving  the  souls  of  men,"  and  that  in- 
vincible ignorance  and  good  faith  form  the  precarious  hope  of  those 
that  are  outside  that  society  founded  by  Christ. 

The  Church,  in  the  strict  and  ordinarily  accepted  sense,  is  a  visible 
society  of  men  professing  the  same  faith  and  governed  by  legiti- 
mately appointed  pastors  under  the  Roman  Pontiff.  The  end  for 
which  this  society  was  instituted  is  the  eternal  salvation  of  its  mem- 
bers. 

Many  have  denied  that  Christ's  Church  is  a  real  society,  a  society 
of  men  banded  together  for  a  distinct  object,  the  salvation  of  their 
souls.  It  has  been  and  is  claimed  that  the  Church  consists  of  those 
who  believe  in  Christ,  and  that  no  visible  organization  is  necessary. 

Now  an  invisible  Church  on  earth  is  a  contradiction  in  terms. 
As  well  speak  of  an  invisible  kingdom  in  our  midst  with  ruler  and 
subjects  invisible,  following  laws  that  are  inscribed  on  invisible 
tablets  and  holding  inaudible  converse  one  with  the  other.  Abstrac- 
tions are  very  good  and  very  useful  in  the  mental  world,  in  meta- 
physics and  even  in  science,  but  we  dismiss  them  summarily  in  the 
practical  affairs  of  every-day  life  and  what  so  practical,  so  removed 
from  mere  abstractions,  as  religion,  which  is  to  influence  each  word 
and  act,  and  influence  them  for  eternity?  Christ  manifesting  Him- 
self to  the  world  did  not  communicate  Himself  as  an  idea,  or  an 
emotion,  or  an  inspiration  to  the  minds  and  hearts  of  men,  as  He 
might  have  done ;  in  fact  as  He  did  manifest  Himself  to  the  prophets 
of  old.  He  could  have  been  a  spiritual  influence  dominating  irresist- 
ibly a  certain  number  of  human  beings,  and  through  them  guide 


184  THE  CREED. 

the  entire  race.  But  He  took  to  Himself  a  material  body;  spoke  a 
language  that  men  could  understand ;  made  Himself  in  every  way  a 
man,  and  employed  ordinary  methods  of  teaching  and  directing,  ways 
that  could  be  understood  by  all,  simple  and  learned  alike.  Through- 
out His  earthly  life  He  insisted  that  His  mission  was  to  found  a 
Church.  He  spoke  of  it  in  ways  that  His  fellowmen  could  under- 
stand ;  called  it  a  city,  a  kingdom,  a  vine.  Is  it  probable  that  in  estab- 
lishing what  He  came  to  establish  He  would  have  given  His  follow- 
ers to  understand  that  He  was  to  found  a  kingdom  with  explicit 
laws  and  ordinances,  while  He  meant  all  along  to  be  a  mere  influ- 
ence, felt  in  widely  differing  ways  by  different  people?  That  He 
would  have  no  visible  fellowship  such  as  the  world  would  know  and 
recognize  as  such?  Had  He  made  Himself  a  visible  bridegroom 
that  He  might  espouse  an  invisible  bride?  Christ  is  not  only  God, 
a  pure  spirit  "dwelling  in  light  inaccessible,"  He  is  also  man  with  a 
humanity  as  real  as  that  of  any  other  child  of  Adam,  and  His  Church 
must  be  a  divine  and  human  institution  capable  of  being  known  and 
recognized  by  men  as  He  Himself  was  known.  "All  power  is  given 
to  me  in  heaven  and  earth."  We  must  not  forget  that  His  power 
must  still  be  exercised  on  earth  and  exercised  in  a  way  to  be  under- 
stood of  men,  that  is,  by  laws  and  ordinances,  and  through  repre- 
sentatives. 

The  establishment  of  His  Church  engaged  the  mind  of  our 
Saviour  during  His  whole  life  upon  earth.  The  thirty  years  of  His 
hidden  life  were  years  fruitful  of  divine  teaching  for  His  Church. 
Then  it  was  that  He  laid  broad  and  deep  those  foundations  of 
spirituality  on  which  the  superstructure  of  Christianity  must  be 
erected.  Humility,  obedience,  poverty,  meekness,  gentleness,  and 
charity,  all  of  which  the  world  regarded  as  badges  of  ignominy 
little  short  of  criminal,  He  during  those  thirty  years  demonstrated  to 
be  virtues.  In  the  most  practical,  the  most  vivid  way,  He  taught 
mankind  their  value.  He  lived  them  in  His  daily  life,  knowing  that 
every  phase  of  that  life  would  be  the  subject  of  reverent  study,  and 
its  lessons  the  guide  of  unborn  ages.  The  years  of  His  public  min- 
istry He  devoted  to  the  teaching  body  of  the  Church  and  to  the 
unfolding  of  certain  fundamental  doctrines  of  faith.  In  His  death 
He  gave  the  central  dogma  of  His  Church,  the  Redemption.  In  the 
Resurrection  He  proved  the  divinity  of  His  mission,  His  right  to 
found  a  Church,  and  thus  put  the  seal  of  His  divinity  upon  the 
moral  and  dogmatic  teaching  that  He  had  given.  In  the  interval  be- 


THE  CHURCH.  ^5 

tween  His  Resurrection  and  Ascension,  He  gave  definite  organiza- 
tion to  His  Church.  And  since  it  is  the  artist's  final  touches  that  seem 
to  give  distinctive  life  and  character  to  his  work,  so  these  last  quick, 
sure  touches  of  the  Master  are  looked  upon  as  the  creative  touches 
that  brought  the  Church  into  being.  We  are  apt  to  forget  the  long 
years  of  waiting  and  of  effort  that  He  passed  in  Nazareth  and 
Galilee  slowly  fashioning  His  life  work,  laying  the  foundation  of 
that  moral  and  dogmatic  teaching  which  is  to  outlast  time  itself. 

In  establishing  the  teaching  body  of  His  Church,  selecting  the 
apostles,  Our  Lord's  manner  of  acting  may  be  summed  up  in  the 
words  of  St.  Paul :  "The  foolishness  of  God  is  wiser  than  men ;  and 
the  weakness  of  God  is  stronger  than  men."  The  establishment  of 
God's  Church  illustrates  more  clearly  perhaps  than  aught  else  God's 
mysterious  workings,  whereby  He  chooses  the  base  things  of  this 
world  to  confound  the  mighty,  and  the  things  that  are  not,  to  bring 
to  naught  the  things  that  are. 

In  selecting  His  messengers,  Our  Lord  did  not  turn  to  the  learned 
or  powerful,  but  went  among  the  poor  and  illiterate  of  Judea.  He 
collected  about  Him  a  number  of  disciples,  men  in  no  way  dis- 
tinguished. These  He  instructed  carefully,  and  when  the  time  was 
come  to  make  choice  of  the  twelve,  who  were  to  share  His  priestly 
office  and  be  the  channels  of  spiritual  life  to  His  Church,  "He  went 
into  a  mountain  to  pray,  and  He  spent  the  whole  night  in  communion 
with  God.  And  when  day  was  come  He  called  unto  Him  His  dis- 
ciples, and  He  chose  twelve  of  them  whom  He  called  apostles." 

The  wise  of  this  world,  if  they  intended  to  set  on  foot  some  great 
movement  to  establish  some  world  influencing  society,  would  pa- 
tiently and  carefully  select  men  renowned  for  intellect,  for  training, 
for  wealth  and  for  influence.  Would  we  not  consider  them  mad  if 
they  went  to  the  water-front  of  one  of  our  seaport  towns  and 
chose,  from  among  the  fishermen  and  the  dock-laborers,  the  founders 
of  an  epoch-making  organization  ?  If  some  great  philosopher  should 
appoint  as  the  doctors  of  his  system — men  whose  duty  it  would  be 
to  change  the  world's  intellectual  thought — twelve  comparatively  un- 
lettered men,  timid  and  awkward  by  character  and  by  training, 
would  we  not  consider  him  as  obsessed  by  folly?  And  unquestion- 
ably such  would  be  the  case,  for  in  the  things  of  the  world  the  world's 
weapons  and  approved  instruments  should  be  used.  In  founding 
His  Church,  however,  the  Saviour  looked  to  the  spiritual  fitness  of 
His  messengers  in  the  great  spiritual  revolution  which  He  contem- 


1 86  THE  CREED. 

plated,  intellectual  acumen,  culture,  and  personal  influence  were  not 
the  things  desired.  He  looked  for  men  whose  souls  were  a  fitting 
soil  from  which  the  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit  might  bring  forth  the 
fruit  of  eternal  truth  and  life;  men  in  whom  the  virtues  which  He 
wished  to  place  at  the  foundation  of  His  edifice — humility,  poverty, 
self-sacrifice  and  simplicity — had  already  an  abiding  place.  Though 
the  world  was  very  wise  with  its  own  wisdom  and  very  cultured, 
it  was  yet  a  world  steeped  in  ignorance  regarding  the  things  of  the 
spirit.  Systems  of  philosophy  it  knew,  and  literary  perfection  it 
had  long  ago  attained,  but  of  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God  and 
His  claims  upon  the  human  heart  it  had  not  learned  even  the  ele- 
ments. God  always  selects  fitting  instruments,  and  in  selecting  His 
apostles  He  weighed  the  requirements  of  means  to  end.  A  spiritual 
work  needed  spiritual  men,  men  unwarped  by  false  philosophies, 
untainted  by  corrupting  pleasures,  and  such  men  were  to  be  found 
only  in  the  lower  walks  of  life. 

Again,  a  world-conquest  by  poor  and  ignorant  fishermen  would 
be  a  miracle  that  would  astound  the  minds  of  all  thinking  people. 
They  would  be  obliged  to  recognize  that  some  great  force  was 
behind  it  all,  and  since  the  work  was  the  spiritual  reformation  of 
humanity  this  force  must  of  necessity,  they  would  say,  be  divine. 

Another  reason  for  our  Saviour's  selection  we  find  in  the  fact  that 
His  is  the  Church  of  the  poor.  One  of  the  signs  of  His  Messianic 
mission  was  His  preaching  of  the  Gospel  to  the  poor,  His  care  of 
the  despised  and  neglected  children  of  His  Father,  and  no  argument 
could  appeal  more  powerfully  to  them  than  the  great  fact  that  the 
leaders  in  Christ's  Church  were  of  themselves. 

The  Saviour's  message,  too,  of  itself  went  straight  to  the  heart  of 
humanity.  It  required  no  scientific  training,  no  keen  natural  ability. 
It  addressed  itself  not  to  this  nationality  nor  to  that,  not  to  one  class 
rather  than  to  another,  but  as  man  to  man.  Coming  in  these  very 
earthen  vessels,  it  met  man  just  as  he  was,  stripped  of  ornaments  and 
advantages,  and  it  spoke  to  his  heart,  spoke  to  his  conscience,  "spoke 
from  God  to  the  God-like  within  him,"  spoke  as  a  man  speaking  to 
his  brother.  Christ's  choice  of  His  apostles  was  also  in  perfect  har- 
mony with  His  message  and  His  life.  His  own  life  and  especially 
His  death  on  the  Cross  were  to  destroy  utterly  all  distinctions  of  race, 
of  station,  and  of  class.  The  Captain  to  whom  the  world  was  sum- 
moned to  give  allegiance,  the  King  who  bade  all  men  become  His 
subjects,  was  a  poor  artisan  of  a  poor  village  of  a  despised  nation. 


THE  CHURCH. 


187 


So  the  folly  of  God  evident  in  the  life  and  in  the  death  of  the  Saviour, 
and  most  evident  in  His  manner  of  establishing  the  Church,  was 
wiser  than  men,  and  the  things  that  were  not — poverty,  humility 
and  self-denial — brought  to  naught  the  pride  and  pomp  and  plea- 
sure of  this  world,  the  only  things  that  were  heretofore  of  supreme 
importance. 

With  all  His  preparation,  notwithstanding  the  foundations  laid  in 
the  long  years  of  obscurity,  the  lessons  taught  during  His  public 
life,  the  prayerful  choice  of  His  apostles  and  their  training,  the 
end  was  not  yet. 

Carefully  and  tenderly  had  He  fashioned  the  fair  body  of  His 
Church  from  the  clay  of  humanity,  tempered  it  with  His  blood, 
baptized  it  with  His  tears,  it  was  still  but  a  body,  fair  but  lifeless, 
beautiful  but  barren.  It  must  abide  nine  days  in  the  darkness  of 
retirement,  in  the  quickening  solitude  of  prayer,  until  on  the  morning 
of  Pentecost  the  Holy  Spirit,  the  Paraclete,  breathes  into  it,  and 
the  bride  of  Christ  "that  cometh  forth  as  the  morning,  fair  as  the 
moon,  bright  as  the  sun,  terrible  as  an  army  in  battle  array,"  stands 
revealed. 

We  have  been  considering  the  Church  as  an  organized  society, 
divinely  appointed,  and  such  it  is;  but  we  must  not  let  these  theo- 
logical and  historical  considerations  hide  the  fact  that  it  is  a  living 
organism.  In  thinking  of  the  Church  we  must  not  picture  it  as 
some  vast  power  which  imposes  duties  upon  us  and  speaks  down  to 
us.  The  Saviour  should  not  be  regarded  as  having  introduced  His 
Church  to  the  world  and  then  allowing  it  to  work  its  own  way.  It 
is  an  error  to  think  only  of  what  Christ's  coming  was  to  the  ancient 
world.  The  pouring  of  that  fresh  and  living  stream  into  the  arid 
wastes  of  human  history,  when  the  garden  which  God  had  made 
beautiful  by  His  planting  was  turning  into  a  parched  desert  of  hea- 
thenism, did  not  cease  with  Our  Lord's  departure  from  the  earth, 
nor  with  the  death  of  the  apostles.  In  the  Church  is  the  living 
Christ;  in  the  Church  is  all  the  power  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  in  the 
Church  is  all  the  tenderness  of  the  heavenly  Father,  and  this  Triune 
source  of  life  is  with  us  now  in  all  the  affairs  of  our  workaday 
world.  From  it  flows  spiritual  life  into  the  very  heart  of  humanity 
and  human  society;  life  into  our  governments,  life  into  our  com- 
merce, life  into  the  training  of  families,  life  into  every  individual 
soul ;  and  consequently  God  and  His  Divine  Son  are  as  much  in  our 
daily  lives  as  in  the  lives  of  the  early  Christians,  the  Saviour  is  as- 


I88  THE  CREED. 

closely  united  to  every  man,  woman,  and  child  in  His  Church  as  He 
was  to  John  who  laid  his  head  upon  the  Master's  bosom,  or  to 
Mary,  who  bathed  His  feet  in  her  tears.  Christ  then  is  something 
more  than  the  mere  Founder  of  His  Church.  He  pours  His  own  life 
into  it,  for  it  is  His  body.  He  did  not  stay  apart  and  lay  its  corner- 
stone and  rear  its  structure  outside  of  Himself.  He  rather  put  it 
forth  from  His  own  Sacred  Heart;  and  giving  it  the  indwelling 
Spirit,  the  Paraclete,  took  up  His  constant  abode  on  earth  in  the  life 
of  those  who  love  Him  and  obey  His  commandments. 

His  coming  was  the  beginning  of  the  divine  life  upon  earth  as  St. 
John  says,  "The  bread  of  God  is  He  who  cometh  down  from 
heaven,  and  giveth  life  unto  the  world."  How  intimate  is  that  union 
between  the  active  member  of  Christ's  Church  and  the  Head!  "I 
am  the  vine,  ye  are  the  branches ;"  "I  in  you  and  you  in  me." 

This,  then,  is  what  the  Church  should  mean  to  us ;  a  living  union 
with  Christ,  feeling  His  precious  blood  flowing  through  our  souls 
from  His  Sacraments;  our  hearts  and  minds  throbbing  in  unison 
with  the  heart  and  the  mind  of  the  Eternal  Word. 

We  should  indeed  be  grateful  to  Christ,  not  only  for  His  life  and 
death,  but  likewise  for  the  gift  of  His  Church.  Our  gratitude  should 
be  practical  and  show  itself  by  reverent  obedience  to  the  commands 
of  that  Church  with  whom  Christ  dwells  all  the  days  of  her  life 
even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world.  We  may  then  look  forward 
to  that  day  when  we  will  pass  from  the  ranks  of  the  Church  militant 
to  those  of  the  Church  triumphant  to  reign  with  Christ  Our  head 
forevermore.  Amen. 


THE  INCOMPLETENESS  OF  REVELATION. 


XXIII.    THE  INCOMPLETENESS  OF  REVELATION. 

BY  THE  RT.  REV.  JAMES  BELLORD,  D.D. 

"Christ  crucified;  unto  the  Jews  indeed  a  stumbling  block,  and  unto  the 
Gentiles  foolishness;  but  unto  them  that  are  called,  both  Jews  and  Greeks, 
Christ,  the  power  of  God,  and  the  wisdom  of  God."  —  I.  Cor.  vii,  23,  24. 

SYNOPSIS.—  The  seeming  hopelessness  of  Our  Lord's  cause  when  He  was 
dead  on  the  Cross.  His  enemies  had  triumphed,  His  friends  had  deserted 
Him.  This  scene  followed  by  that  of  His  resurrection  and  sojourn  of 
forty  days,  Anally  His  ascension.  The  change  caused  by  the  Resurrection 
in  the  apostles,  in  the  world.  The  position  of  this  doctrine  in  the  economy 
of  the  faith.  The  use  God  might  have  made  of  this  miracle  for  the  con- 
fusion of  His  enemies,  Herod,  Pilate,  the  Jews.  The  use  God  did  make 
of  it  —  to  draw  his  own  around  Him.  This  truth  like  all  others  revealed 
sufficiently  yet  obscurely.  What  prevented  the  Jew  from  seeing  the  light 
of  revelation?  Their  passions.  Complaints  of  many  as  to  the  difficulties 
and  insufficiencies  of  proof  of  the  dogma  of  religion  due  to  same  cause, 
viz.,  passion.  All  are  given  sufficient  light.  Men  to-day  follow  examples 
of  Jewish  leaders  in  rejecting  Our  Lord.  Revelation  made  to  a  finite 
mind  must  be  incomplete.  Yet  enough  given  for  light,  guidance,  and 
salvation;  not  enough  to  satisfy  curiosity  or  to  compel  assent.  Great 
privilege  of  those  to  whom  this  mystery  is  revealed. 

I.  No  cause  ever  seemed  more  hopeless  than  that  of  Our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  when  He  hung  on  the  Cross,  silent  in  death,  surrounded 
by  the  thick  darkness.  One  class  of  the  Messianic  prophecies,  and 
these  the  most  striking  ones,  seemed  to  have  no  application  to  Him. 
Was  it  of  this  crushed,  degraded  being,  executed  as  a  criminal  amid 
the  execration  of  all,  that  the  Psalmist  wrote  these  words:  "Thou 
art  beautiful  above  the  sons  of  men,  grace  is  poured  forth  on  thy 
lips.  .  .  .  Gird  thy  sword  upon  thy  thigh,  O  thou  most  mighty. 
.  .  .  Thy  throne,  O  God,  is  forever  and  ever.  He  shall  rule  from 
sea  to  sea  .  .  .  until  the  ends  of  the  earth.  .  .  .  All  the 
kings  of  the  earth  shall  adore  him,  all  nations  shall  serve  him"  (Ps. 
xliv,  17)  ?  Any  stranger  who  saw  that  last  terrible  scene,  knowing 
nothing  of  the  divine  life  and  virtues  of  Jesus,  might  have  well  sup- 
posed that  He  was  only  one  more  of  the  many  false  Messias  who 
sprang  up  in  those  days,  created  a  little  excitement,  gained  a  few 
low-class  followers,  and  suddenly  collapsed.  The  miraculous  events 
that  attended  the  crucifixion  proved  to  some  souls  that  a  great 
prophet  was  dead,  but,  even  so,  His  course  was  run,  all  was  over. 


I90 


THE  CREED. 


He  had  left  no  enthusiastic  party  behind  Him,  nought  remained  but 
empty  remembrance. 

The  triumph  of  Our  Lord's  enemies  was  complete.  They  had 
avenged  themselves  fully  on  Him  for  holding  them  up  to  scorn  and 
denouncing  their  hypocrisies.  He  had  gained  a  great  hold  on  the 
people,  He  had  spoken  of  a  new  era  in  religion.  For  a  while  they 
had  feared  Him,  but  now  their  power  was  confirmed,  they  could  go 
on  in  their  own  way  as  before,  no  more  would  be  heard  of  this  dan- 
gerous movement.  He  was  safely  dead,  and  they  could  sate  them- 
selves with  the  memory  of  His  utter  failure,  His  frightful  sufferings, 
His  indelible  disgrace. 

The  followers  of  Jesus  were  discouraged  and  broken.  Simple, 
uncultivated  men,  called  from  their  fishing-nets  to  follow  One  whose 
works  they  saw,  but  whose  ideas  they  could  not  comprehend,  their 
faith  failed  under  the  trial,  they  were  "scandalized"  in  Him.  The 
Holy  Ghost  was  not  yet  given  to  them,  Satan  still  had  power  to  sift 
them  like  wheat.  They  laid  aside  their  hopes  of  the  re-establishment 
of  the  kingdom  of  Israel,  and  of  sitting  at  the  right  hand  and  at  the 
left  hand  of  their  Master.  They  hid  themselves,  or  hastened  away  to 
their  homes  and  previous  daily  labors.  None  kept  the  faith  but  the 
Blessed  Virgin  Mother;  she  alone,  who  possessed  the  secret  of  His 
divinity,  was  able  to  trust  in  His  promises  and  look  forward  to  His 
triumph. 

There  were  others  too,  some  curious,  or  indifferent,  some  who 
were  concerned  in  the  passion,  like  Herod  and  Pilate.  Conscience 
may  have  awakened  a  momentary  remorse  in  them  for  their  fatal 
errors  and  injustice.  But  their  victim  was  dead.  He  could  never 
reappear.  Their  crimes  were  hidden  in  His  sepulchre.  Some  re- 
membered that  there  had  been  words  spoken  about  a  rising  from  the 
dead  on  the  third  day.  A  very  absurd  expectation !  Still,  to  prevent 
any  mistake  or  imposture,  or  miracle  even,  they  took  proper  steps 
to  have  the  sepulchre  guarded  by  a  band  of  resolute  soldiers.  Cer- 
tainly all  was  over. 

II.  The  Sabbath  drew  its  veil  of  calm  over  the  tragedy  of  the 
days  just  gone.  Men  rose  relieved  on  the  first  morning  of  the  new 
week  to  resume  their  usual  life.  They  were  met  by  startling  tidings. 
The  Roman  guard  had  abandoned  their  post  and  fled  in  terror, 
saying  that  at  dawn  the  dead  had  come  to  life,  and  passed  through 
the  unopened  door  of  the  sepulchre.  Then  some  women  who  had 
gone  early  to  the  tomb  hurried  back  and  related  that  angels  had 


THE  INCOMPLETENESS  OF  REVELATION.  Z91 

appeared  and  declared  that  Christ  was  truly  risen.  Peter  and 
John  then  went  and  found  the  Sacred  Body  no  longer  there.  Still,  so 
little  did  they  realize  what  had  happened,  that  Mary  Magdalene, 
when  she  first  saw  the  risen  Lord,  mistook  Him  for  the  gardener 
of  the  place.  After  this,  Jesus  appeared  in  the  upper  chamber  before 
ten  of  the  apostles,  and  another  time  when  Thomas  was  present; 
again  to  the  two  disciples  on  the  road  to  Emmaus,  then  to  five  hun- 
dred at  once  among  the  mountains  of  Galilee,  and  to  the  apostles  by 
the  shore  of  the  Lake  of  Genesareth.  Many  times  during  the  forty 
days  He  instructed  His  disciples  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God, 
and  at  last  ascended  to  heaven  in  their  sight  from  Mount  Olivet. 

What  a  wonderful  change  was  wrought  at  once  in  the  apostles 
minds  by  the  knowledge  of  the  Resurrection!  What  a  revul- 
sion from  doubt  to  certainty,  sorrow  to  triumph,  despair  to  faith  and 
confidence!  It  was  a  change  for  them  as  from  darkness  to  sun- 
shine, even  as  from  death  to  life.  The  world  had  seemed  to  be  shat- 
tered, and  an  abyss  opened  beneath  their  feet,  when  all  their  beliets 
and  hopes,  all  thoughts  and  certainties,  collapsed  at  once  at  the  death 
of  their  beloved  Master.  Now  it  was  as  if  the  solid  world  had  been 
created  anew.  After  all,  they  were  not  deceived,  Jesus  was  still  a 
reality,  His  words  were  true;  a  great  future  was  still  open  before 
Him  and  them.  What  did  the  scandal  of  the  Cross  matter  now,  or 
weakness,  or  obscurities,  or  the  triumph  of  his  foes,  since  Jesus 
was  really  risen  ? 

The  Resurrection  was  the  crucial  test,  the  supreme  proof  of  Chris- 
tianity. It  was  the  accomplishment  of  prophecy,  the  evidence  of 
Our  Lord's  power  and  divine  origin,  the  confirmation  of  all  His 
teachings,  the  justification  of  men's  belief  in  Him,  and  the  assurance 
of  a  future  life  for  them.  It  is  the  central  support  of  Our  Lord's 
religion.  The  apostles  made  it  the  keystone  of  religion,  and  made 
everything  depend  on  it.  Their  own  office,  as  they  describe  it, 
was  to  be  "witnesses  of  the  Resurrection."  St.  Paul,  in  order  that  he 
might  be  a  witness  of  it  with  them,  was  vouchsafed  a  sight  of  Our 
Lord  in  vision,  as  he  had  not  seen  Him  in  the  flesh.  He  tells  us  that 
if  Christ  be  not  risen  again  then  is  our  faith  vain,  and  our  hopes  as  to 
the  lot  of  departed  souls  are  unfulfilled ;  then  are  we  the  most  miser- 
able of  men,  for  we  have  surrendered  our  worldly  opportunities,  our 
possessions,  and  our  lives,  we  have  staked  our  all  on  an  unreality. 
Such  is  the  position  that  the  Resurrection  holds  in  the  economy  of 
the  faith. 


I92  THE  CREED. 

III.  It  is  most  instructive  to  consider  the  way  in  which  divine 
Providence  has  made  use  of  this  crowning  evidence  of  Our  Lord's 
divinity.  To  our  carnal  ways  of  thinking  there  is  an  incompleteness 
about  the  revelation  of  the  Resurrection.  Our  Lord  might  have 
exhibited  Himself  more  widely  than  He  did,  and  with  much  more 
striking  effect.  Nothing  could  be  more  conclusive  than  the  miracle 
of  His  rising;  nothing  more  easy  than  to  verify  it  publicly.  We 
might  picture  to  ourselves  Our  Lord  appearing  in  all  His  risen  glory 
before  the  tribunals  where  He  had  been  condemned,  indicating  His 
divinity  before  Caiaphas,  His  kingship  before  Pilate,  His  miraculous 
power  before  Herod,  convincing  them  as  He  did  St.  Thomas  by  the 
sight  of  His  wounded  hands  and  side.  We  may  imagine  their  con- 
sternation, their  horror,  the  acclamations  of  the  fickle  populace,  the 
glory  of  the  position  of  the  disciples.  There  could  have  been  no  at- 
tempt then  to  hush  up  the  miracle  by  bribing  the  guards  to  silence ; 
it  would  have  been  placed  beyond  the  possibility  of  denial. 

However,  to  speak  familiarly,  there  was  not  as  much  made  of  it 
as  might  have  been.  Our  Lord  did  not  submit  His  Resurrection  to 
scientific  investigation,  or  to  a  juridical  proof.  The  scandal  of  the 
Cross  was  proclaimed  to  all,  it  was  recognized  by  official  acts;  but 
the  triumph  of  Our  Lord  was  made  known  only  to  a  few.  The 
Resurrection  remained  open  to  objection.  The  Jews  were  able  to 
promulgate  the  lie  that  while  the  guards  were  asleep  the  disciples 
stole  the  body.  As  they  said  on  Calvary,  "If  he  be  the  king  of  Israel, 
let  him  now  come  down  from  the  Cross,"  so  it  was  open  to  them 
now  to  say :  "He  has  not  appeared  to  us ;  if  He  be  really  risen  let 
Him  come  forth  to  the  streets  He  passed  through  to  Calvary,  to 
the  courts  where  He  was  judged ;  let  us  see  the  marks  of  nails  and 
spear,  and  we  are  willing  to  believe.  Is  not  our  offer  a  fair  and 
just  one  ?  Who  could  ask  more  than  this  of  us  ?" 

The  ways  of  God  are  not  as  the  ways  of  man.  We  should  like 
to  see  His  enemies  convicted  to  their  faces  of  falsehood  and  injustice; 
He  leaves  them  to  their  obstinacy  in  error.  They  wish  to  contradict 
the  truth,  they  do  not  wish  to  profit  by  the  light  to  see  the  truth, 
and  God,  therefore,  withholds  it  from  them.  He  does  not  give  His 
light  for  the  confusion  of  its  enemies,  but  only  for  the  salvation  of 
those  who  seek  it  humbly.  There  are  some  to  whom  God  is  pleased 
to  give  a  more  full  revelation  of  Himself,  as  Jesus  granted  St. 
Thomas  the  proof  he  had  irreverently  demanded :  but  others  had  no 
right  to  claim  this  special  favor,  which  He  had  the  right  to  bestow 


THE  INCOMPLETENESS  OF  REVELATION.  193 

where  He  would.  Some  are  privileged  to  see,  but  the  majority  are 
called  to  the  greater  blessedness  of  believing  without  seeing.  To 
those  who  were  to  be  teachers  of  others  and  witnesses  to  divine 
facts,  Our  Lord  revealed  Himself  abundantly  by  many  proofs, 
both  before  and  after  His  Resurrection ;  but  such  complete  evidence 
was  not  necessary  for  others.  To  men  at  large  God  gives  only  "evi- 
dence of  credibility,"  not  intrinsic  proofs  of  the  facts  themselves, 
but  evidence  sufficient  to  prove  that  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  His 
messengers,  and  indications  that  are  enough  to  prove  that  they 
speak  with  the  plenitude  of  His  authority. 

Thus  did  God  proceed  with  regard  to  the  Resurrection.  Like 
all  other  spiritual  truths  it  was  to  be  obscure  while  sufficiently  made 
known.  Our  Lord's  prophecies  had  given  men  reason  to  expect 
that  He  would  rise  again.  The  fact  was  testified  to  by  the  hostile  wit- 
ness of  the  soldiers  of  the  guard,  as  well  as  by  the  multitudes  who 
saw  Our  Lord.  These  proved  their  sincerity  by  their  lives,  and  by 
their  death  as  martyrs;  and  God  set  the  seal  of  His  approval  to 
their  words  by  giving  them  the  power  of  miracles.  The  sufficiency 
of  the  testimony  to  the  Resurrection  is  shown  by  the  innumerable 
conversions  among  those  who  had  every  opportunity  of  judging 
and  testing  the  truth.  What  sufficed  for  them  would  have  sufficed 
to  convert  all  others,  had  they  not  allowed  passion  to  blind  their 
eyes  and  harden  their  hearts.  Had  they  yielded  to  grace  and  fol- 
lowed the  light,  they  would  have  been  led  by  God  to  a  degree  of 
knowledge  and  certainty  superior  to  any  that  rises  even  from  the 
highest  evidence  of  the  natural  faculties. 

IV.  Many  complain  of  the  difficulties  and  insufficiencies  in  the 
evidence  in  favor  of  Christianity  and  the  Church.  It  does  not  come 
up  to  their  notion  of  what  the  evidence  should  be.  But  we  must  not 
suppose  that  the  incompleteness  of  the  evidence  is  the  real  cause 
why  so  many  men  persevere  to  the  end  in  rejecting  the  true  faith. 
Those  who  urge  such  a  pretext  would  probably  continue  to  disbe- 
lieve, even  were  the  evidence  as  clear  as  they  demand  it  to  be.  To 
grant  them  more  convincing  proofs  would  be  not  only  casting  pearls 
before  swine,  but  it  would  be  increasing  their  responsibility  and 
their  sin.  If  a  completer  revelation  were  necessary  for  begetting 
divine  faith  in  any  souls,  we  may  be  sure  that  God  would  have  given 
it  to  them.  Those  who  find  fault  with  the  sufficiency  of  what  God's 
Providence  has  done  for  their  enlightenment  are  the  counterpart  of 
those  Jews  of  old  who  found  the  evidence  of  the  Resurrection  im- 


I94  THE  CREED. 

perfect.  Our  Lord  anticipated  that  very  objection  to  His  Resur- 
rection. He  provided  against  it,  and  gave  a  proof  of  its  insincerity. 
In  the  parable  of  Lazarus  and  Dives,  Abraham  is  represented  as 
saying  to  the  rich  man  about  his  incredulous  brethren,  "They  have 
Moses  and  the  Prophets.  If  they  believe  them  not,  then  neither  if 
one  rose  from  the  dead  would  they  believe."  This  was  verified 
when  Our  Lord  raised  His  friend,  the  actual  Lazarus,  from  the  dead. 
One  did  rise  from  the  dead,  and  bore  witness  to  Our  Lord,  but  his 
enemies  would  not  believe.  The  miracle  was  wrought  before  a 
multitude,  it  was  noised  abroad  and  well  known.  Lazarus  was  seen 
in  public.  Did  men  accept  Our  Lord  the  more  on  that  account? 
No.  For  "the  chief  priests  thought  to  kill  Lazarus  also,  because  many 
of  the  Jews,  by  reason  of  him,  went  away  and  believed  in  Jesus" 
(John  xii,  10,  n).  What  wilful  blindness,  what  a  perverse  choice  of 
evil  before  good!  It  would  be  well  nigh  incredible,  were  not  the 
examples  of  it  too  numerous.  The  appearance  of  Our  Lord  once 
more  before  Ananias,  and  Herod,  and  the  Pharisees  would,  so  far 
from  converting,  have  stimulated  them  to  attempt  further  outrages 
upon  Him  in  His  glorified  state. 

Even  if  the  opponents  of  Our  Blessed  Lord  had  been  forced  by 
circumstances  to  admit  the  fact  of  His  Resurrection,  what  would 
have  been  the  gain  to  the  kingdom  of  God  in  their  souls  ?  The  recog- 
nition of  a  patent  fact  is  not  the  faith  which  justifies,  and  which 
moves  the  mountains  of  sin.  The  conquest  of  the  intellect  is  not 
the  same  as  gaining  the  heart;  and  unless  this  be  done,  the  fullest 
knowledge  will  not  change  men's  lives  for  the  better.  The  sight 
of  Jesus  actually  rising  from  the  dead  would  not  have  strengthened 
the  wavering  mind  of  Pilate,  or  taught  him  to  follow  strict  justice 
instead  of  selfish  expediency.  It  would  not  have  purified  the  sensual 
soul  of  Herod  and  silenced  his  mocking  criticisms.  It  would  not 
have  humbled  the  arrogance  of  the  Pharisees,  or  changed  the  furious 
hatred  of  the  chief  priests  into  gentleness  and  love.  Even  though 
they  saw,  they  would  not  have  believed,  their  passions  were  fatal  to 
faith. 

So  it  is  in  general.  The  real  obstacles  to  belief  are  the  capital 
sins,  pride,  covetousness,  lust,  sloth,  and  the  rest;  all  that  we  hear 
about  flaws  in  the  evidence,  and  proofs  that  will  not  stand  criticism, 
is  but  an  excuse  to  conceal  the  real  reasons  for  men's  incredulity. 
Let  us  not  think  that  a  fuller  revelation  of  divine  truth  would  break 
down  that  unbelief ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  the  hardness  of  men's  un- 


THE  INCOMPLETENESS  OF  REVELATION.  195 

belief  that  prevents  God  from  giving  them  the  further  revelation. 
So  we  read  of  Our  Lord  in  a  certain  place  that  "he  could  not  do 
any  mighty  work  there,"  and  the  reason  was  "because  of  their  un- 
belief" (Mark  vi,  6;  Matt,  xiii,  58).  This  was  doubtless  one  of  the 
reasons  why  the  Resurrection  was  not  manifested  with  greater  clear- 
ness to  the  rulers  and  the  chief  priests.  Their  resistance  to  the  light 
prevented  Our  Lord  from  giving  them  a  still  fuller  light.  They 
had  so  perverted  their  minds  and  wills  that  they  would  have  been 
unable  to  apprehend  that  fuller  light,  and  therefore  it  was  not  given 
to  them.  And  such  undoubtedly  is  the  case  in  very  many  other 
instances.  All  indeed  are  not  called  to  the  possession  of  truth  from 
the  first;  to  some  it  is  given  only  late  in  life;  some  have  to  work 
their  way  to  it  slowly  and  with  much  difficulty ;  but  if  any  continue 
to  the  end  without  knowledge  enough,  or  faith  enough  for  their 
salvation,  the  reason  certainly  is  that  they  have  been  guilty  of  de- 
liberate resistance ;  for  the  Gospel  assures  us,  that  the  true  light  en- 
lighteneth  sufficiently  every  man  that  cometh  into  this  world  (John 
i,  9).  They  may  not  have  had  the  same  great  advantages  that  are 
given  to  some  specially  favored  ones;  but  certainly  the  opportunity 
has  been  given  them  of  attaining  to  those  advantages  in  the  course 
of  time.  There  are  varying  degrees  of  fulness  in  the  revelation  that 
God  makes  to  each  soul,  but  there  is  no  real  incompleteness ;  such  in- 
completeness as  there  may  be  is  only  apparent,  and  only  lasts  for 
a  time. 

The  rejection  of  the  Resurrection  by  the  Jewish  leaders  enables 
us  to  judge  of  those  who,  in  our  times,  reject  either  the  whole  or 
a  part  of  the  Christian  system.  There  are  abundant  reasons,  of 
a  more  or  less  selfish  kind,  which  urge  men  to  oppose  religious 
truths,  quite  independently  of  the  evidence  in  favor  of  these  truths. 
Men  are  gained  over  by  the  spirit  of  the  world  and  of  Satan,  and  then 
they  look  out  for  arguments  to  support  their  predetermined  posi- 
tion. They  examine  the  grounds  of  faith,  not  with  reverence  and 
love  of  the  truth,  but  with  the  desire  of  discovering  weak  points  and 
objections.  These  are  not  hard  to  find.  From  the  very  nature 
of  faith  and  the  obscurity  of  its  superhuman  mysteries,  there  must 
be  sufficient  of  difficulty  and  incompleteness  to  supply  objections  to 
those  who  seek  them.  Anything  is  good  enough  for  that  purpose. 
Transparent  sophisms,  glaring  falsehoods,  self-contradictory  state- 
ments, or  arguments  already  a  thousand  times  refuted — any  rag 
will  do  to  cover  their  nakedness,  and  to  hide  their  enmity  to  truth 


,96  THE  CREED. 

under  the  decent  appearance  of  sincerity.  It  is  easy  for  men  to 
deceive  themselves  by  such  means,  easy  too  to  deceive  others,  easy 
too  to  gain  credit  from  the  charitable  for  the  sincerity  of  invincible 
ignorance;  but  God  is  not  to  be  deceived.  The  fact  remains  that 
truth  has  been  sufficienly  revealed  to  them;  it  has  spoken  to  them, 
though  perhaps  as  Jesus  spoke  to  the  Jews,  "in  parables;  that  see- 
ing, they  may  see  and  not  perceive ;  and  hearing,  they  may  hear  and 
not  understand"  (Mark  iv,  12). 

V.  Revelation  must  of  necessity  be  incomplete,  in  this  sense,  that 
though  it  be  complete  enough  for  God's  purposes  in  us,  it  does  not 
unfold  divine  mysteries  to  us  in  their  entirety.  Our  capacities  are 
very  limited.  God  may  say  to  us,  as  Our  Lord  to  the  apostles:  "I 
have  yet  many  things  to  say  to  you,  but  you  cannot  bear  them  now" 
(John  xvi,  12).  Our  minds  can  not  rise  to  the  height  of  divine 
mysteries,  our  speech  can  not  convey  them;  it  is  not  given  to  man 
to  utter  them,  as  St.  Paul  says  of  those  things  which  God  showed 
him.  Such  knowledge  would  also  increase  our  responsibilities  be- 
yond our  strength;  it  would  be  a  source  of  danger  to  us,  "lest  the 
greatness  of  the  revelations  should  lift  us  up"  (II  Cor.  xii,  7).  Even 
in  the  case  of  the  great  apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  the  special  revela- 
tion of  truth  necessitated  a  course  of .  temptations  and  bufferings 
which  he  found  almost  unendurable.  Many  things  made  known  to 
us  were  held  back  from  the  Jews,  as  being  too  advanced  for  their 
stage  of  spiritual  and  general  cultivation.  Our  training  is  some- 
what more  complete,  but  it  is  far  from  being  perfect;  we  can  re- 
ceive more  than  they  could,  but  yet  not  all  the  abundance  of  divine 
truth. 

We  would  gladly  know  more  than  we  do.  There  are  mysteries  of 
God's  nature  and  of  His  Providence  toward  the  world,  mysteries  in 
human  life  and  in  our  future  lot,  which  we  speculate  upon,  and 
try  to  fathom,  but  in  vain.  Man's  appetite  for  knowledge  is  in- 
satiable. Yet  we  can  not  force  an  answer  to  our  questionings; 
those  who  insist  are  confounded  like  the  builders  of  the  Tower  of 
Babel.  We  must  be  content  with  such  partial  glimpses  of  great 
truths  as  God  has  given  us,  and  we  must  accept  them  also  on  such 
a  kind  and  such  a  degree  of  evidence  as  He  considers  suitable.  If 
we  revolt  against  the  conditions  which  He  has  appointed  to  us, 
instead  of  reaching  greater  light  we  shall  only  plunge  ourselves 
into  hopeless  confusion  and  uncertainty. 

We  know  little  indeed,  but  yet  it  is  much.    It  is  far  more  than  we 


THE  INCOMPLETENESS  OF  REVELATION.  197 

could  possibly  attain  to  by  ourselves.  It  may  be  a  mere  outline,  a 
mere  glimmering  of  light,  but  it  is  an  indication  of  the  riches  of 
knowledge  reserved  for  us  in  eternity ;  it  will  be  completed  when  we 
are  made  capable  of  it  there.  It  is  much  also  because  it  suffices 
for  all  our  needs;  it  is  enough  to  enlighten  us  about  many  things 
that  are  obscure,  it  is  enough  to  give  us  a  consciousness  of  perfect 
security,  it  is  enough  for  the  guidance  of  our  lives  and  for  our  sal- 
vation. At  the  same  time,  it  is  not  enough  to  satisfy  irreverent 
curiosity,  or  to  compel  the  assent  of  those  who  deliberately  resist. 

Let  us  remember  the  great  privilege  of  those  who  were  se- 
lected by  God  to  see  and  understand  the  mystery  of  the  Resurrec- 
tion. We  have  received  a  somewhat  similar  privilege  that  de- 
mands our  deepest  gratitude.  Like  the  apostles  we  have  a  knowl- 
edge and  a  firm  assurance  of  truth  far  beyond  what  has  been  granted 
to  others.  God  has  revealed  Himself  to  us ;  Jesus  Christ,  His  only 
Son,  has  been  present  with  us;  not  indeed  in  the  same  way  as  in 
the  upper  room,  but  with  the  same  efficacy  in  confirming  our  faith, 
and  drawing  our  hearts  into  union  with  His. 


198  THE  CREED. 


XXIV.    THE  UNITY  OF  TRUE  RELIGION;  OR,  IS  ONE 
RELIGION  AS  GOOD  AS  ANOTHER? 

BY   THE   RT.    REV.    JAMES   BELLORD,   D.D. 


"Every  kingdom  divided  against  itself  shall  be  brought  to  desolation." — 
Luke,  xi,  17. 


SYNOPSIS. — /.  The  life  giving  strength  of  unity  clearly  recognized.  This  is 
evident  in  the  (a)  material  world;  (b)  world  of  art;  (c)  of  letters;  (d) 
of  music;  (e)  in  the  military  world;  (f)  economic  world;  (g)  political 
world.  Tendency  nowadays  is  to  unite,  not  only  families,  but  cities, 
and  nations. 

II.  Interest  of  the  soul  surpasses  all  other  interests.     Unity   of 
spiritual  purpose  of  creation,  hence  unity  of  moral  law;  hence  unity  of 
religion.     Proved   from   reason   as   well   as   from   revelation^     Catholic 
Church  always  insisted  on  the  necessity  of  unity.    The  opposite  doctrine 
a  delusion:  its  effects. 

III.  Proofs  of  unity.    Argument  of  design  proves  unity  in  the  ma- 
terial creation.    Man  is  the  crown  of  creation.    His  spiritual  concerns  the 
most  important;  hence  the  creation  of  the  supernatural  order..    There 
should  also  be  unity  in  this  order. 

IV.  Absurdity  of  the  position  that  disorder  is  God's  rule  for  the 
supernatural  order.    This  theory,  the  theory  of  Non-Catholic  world,  con- 
demned by  the  Scriptures,  (a)  by  the  Old  Testament;  the  Jews  had  one 
God;  one  form  of  worship;  one  sacrifice;  one  temple;  one  priestly  racet 
etc.  The  prophecies  foretold  a  more  perfect  Church.  These  fulfilled  only  by 
the  unity  of  the  Catholic  Church,    (b)  By  the  New  Testament:  I,  by  Our 
Lord  in  His  use  of  the  parables  of  the  kingdom  of  God;  2,  by  His  prayer 
for  unity,    (c)  By  St.  Paul:  Many  exhortations  to  unity. 

V.  Unity  found  nowhere  outside   the  Catholic  Church.     Evils   of 
lack  of  unity.    Final  exhortation. 

I.  Unity  is  strength;  discord  is  weakness;  internal  dissension 
is  destruction.  Nothing  is  more  universally  true,  nothing  more 
generally  recognized  among  men  than  this.  For  a  thing  to  be 
perfect,  and  fit  for  its  proper  purpose,  it  must  have  unity  and  har- 
mony in  itself ;  when  it  loses  these  it  can  no  longer  do  its  work,  it  is 
on  the  way  to  dissolution.  Decomposition,  whether  of  material 
substances  or  of  human  organizations,  is  nothing  else  than  the 
breaking  up  of  the  bonds  of  connection  and  subordination  in  the 
component  parts,  or  in  other  words,  it  is  the  loss  of  unity.  A  poem, 


THE  UNITY  OF  TRUE  RELIGION.  i99 

a  play,  a  picture,  must,  according  to  the  rules  of  art,  have  unity  of 
subject,  of  treatment,  of  style.  An  army  in  the  field  needs  the 
strictest  unity  and  harmony  if  it  is  to  be  successful.  If  it  consists 
of  contingents  from  different  allied  nations,  each  under  its  own  inde- 
pendent commander,  differences  of  opinion  about  questions  of 
strategy  will  arise  and  can  not  be  reconciled;  national  jealousies 
will  cause  friction,  the  various  parts  will  not  act  together  as  one 
body;  every  operation  will  be  attended  with  great  difficulties,  the 
advantages  of  numbers,  discipline,  and  good  equipment  will  count 
for  so  much  less  than  they  ought,  and  it  will  suffer  defeat  at  the 
hands  of  an  inferior  enemy  who  act's  with  unity  and  decision.  A 
country  is  weak  if  its  population  is  divided  into  hostile  parties, 
with  opposite  views  and  inconsistent  interests.  A  government  can 
not  maintain  order  or  satisfy  the  people,  it  may  even  fail  to  maintain 
the  country's  independence,  if  its  ruling  members  have  no  harmony 
among  themselves.  On  the  other  hand,  it  frequently  happens  that  a 
small  party  in  a  state  gains  control  of  power,  when  it  is  well- 
disciplined,  acts  together  with  one  purpose,  and  subordinates  pri- 
vate inclinations  to  the  general  cause.  In  a  large  country  the  spec- 
tacle that  inspires  most  admiration  is,  not  the  extent  of  territory, 
richness  of  soil,  or  the  splendor  of  cities,  but  it  is  the  unity  of  the 
whole;  a  unity  that  is  expressed  in  a  universal  love  of  country,  a 
submission  to  authority  which  is  not  the  result  of  force  or  fear, 
the  amalgamation  of  so  many  diverse  individuals  in  one  common 
spirit.  This  is  the  surest  indication  of  greatness  and  power,  and 
affords  the  best  promise  for  the  future.  Whenever  a  number  of 
persons  have  a  common  object,  whether  it  be  their  education  or  their 
pleasure,  whether  it  be  buying  and  selling  or  manufacturing,  whether 
it  be  resistance  to  oppression  or  increase  of  wages,  whether  it  be 
politics,  or  war,  or  discovery,  or  science,  they  unite  and  organize 
themselves.  As  time  goes  on,  it  is  found  that  more  and  more  men 
in  the  world  have  the  same  interests  in  common,  and  that  it  is  for 
the  general  advantage  to  enlarge  their  associations,  and  for  nations 
to  combine  with  nations,  as  laborers  with  laborers,  and  trades  with 
trades.  The  tendency  is  for  mankind  to  become  more  dependent 
on  one  another,  and  so  more  closely  united.  A  failure  of  one  coun- 
try's harvest,  or  mischievous  legislation  in  another,  may  make  itself 
felt  in  every  community  of  civilized  men.  The  interests  of  each 
are  becoming  the  interests  of  all,  and  the  basis  of  organization  is  con- 
tinually growing  wider.  Combination  and  unity  were  once  limited 


I00  THE  CREED. 

to  each  family ;  then  families  united  into  t'ribes,  tribes  into  principali- 
ties, and  these  into  countries  according  to  the  line  of  physical  boun- 
daries. Ages  ago  the  Catholic  Church  commenced  to  form  a  comity 
of  Christian  nations,  or  a  union  of  all  civilized  men.  The  religious 
discussions  of  the  XVIth  century  checked  that  great  advance  for  a 
while.  Now  we  are  looking  forward  from  international  unions  to 
universal  combinations  of  all  mankind  for  their  great  common  inter- 
ests, peace,  plenty,  and  progress. 

II.  There  is  one  interest  that  is  superior  in  importance  to  all 
others — the  salvation  of  the  souls  of  men.  There  is  one  common 
object  of  knowledge,  of  love,  of  worship — God.  There  is  one  law 
of  action,  invariable  in  all  times  and  places,  though  always  develop- 
ing to  its  perfection  on  the  same  lines — the  moral  law.  There  has 
been  one  consecutive  series  of  revelations  on  these  subjects.  These 
things  are  uniform,  and  the  relations  of  men  to  them  are  uniform. 
Climate,  and  racial  descent,  and  degree  of  education,  and  mode  of 
life,  make  no  change  in  matters  of  revelation,  for  they  do  not  belong 
to  the  physical  order.  They  are  not  touched  by  the  vicissitudes  of  the 
world.  Religion  surely,  beyond  all  other  things,  is  a  fit  subject  for 
unity  and  a  fit  object  for  organization  to  work  on.  In  religious 
truths,  and  laws,  and  worship,  there  should  be  no  place  for  discrep- 
ancies, and  contradictions,  and  changes ;  for  the  source  is  God,  who 
is  immutable,  and  not  man,  who  is  changeable  as  the  winds  of 
heaven.  The  system  of  true  religion  must  be  sole  and  single ;  both 
in  its  inward  essence  and  its  outward  manifestations  there  can  be 
no  plurality  of  systems,  and  no  violation  of  harmony  in  the  one 
system.  Further,  in  accordance  with  the  law  of  human  action  and 
progress,  men  should  unite  in  one  combination  to  pursue  this  one 
end.  Apart  from  all  distinct  commands,  it  is  reasonable  a  priori,  that 
they  should  act  with  one  heart  and  one  soul,  organizing  themselves 
into  one  body,  both  for  economy  of  effort,  for  the  restraint  of  indi- 
vidual vagaries,  for  encouragement  by  mutual  example,  and  for 
the  very  perfection  and  strength  which  belong  to  unity. 

There  is  no  more  striking  instance  of  human  inconsistency  than 
that  this  sacred  ground  of  peace  and  harmony  should  be  considered 
by  many  sensible,  and,  in  their  way,  pious  men,  as  the  one  natural 
battlefield  of  mankind.  It  is  not  wonderful  that  blasphemers,  sedu- 
cers, lying  spirits,  should  arise,  hating  the  truth  and  endeavoring 
to  rend  the  seamless  robe  of  Christ,  nor  that  they  should  mislead 
many.  It  is  natural  that  the  corrupt  heart  of  man  should  engender 


THE  UNITY  OF  TRUE  RELIGION.  201 

sin  against  truth  as  against  every  other  divine  perfection.  The 
wonder  is  that  this  state  of  things  should  be  regarded  as  normal, 
harmonious  with  the  healthy  conditions  of  human  nature,  and  in 
accordance  with  the  mind  of  Christ.  Yet  in  fact  many  do  so  far 
ignore  the  indications  of  the  Old  Testament  and  the  distinct  declara- 
tions of  Our  Lord,  they  so  far  contradict  the  laws  of  natural  pru- 
dence and  the  dictates  of  reason,  as  to  deny  that  religion  is  one, 
and  that  it  should  be  in  harmony  with  itself.  They  have  lost  all  con- 
ception of  the  true  character  of  religion. 

Hence  it  is  that  such  doctrines  as  these  find  favor:  "One  reli- 
gion is  as  good  as  another.  What  each  man  believes  to  be  truth, 
that  is  truth  as  far  as  he  is  concerned.  It  matters  not  what  a  man 
believes  so  long  as  he  does  his  duty  to  his  fellowmen.  There  is  no 
such  thing  as  absolute  truth  in  religion.  Let  us  have  religion  with- 
out dogmas.  A  religion  should  be  comprehensive;  its  proudest 
title  is  that  it  embraces  all  shades  of  opinion,  and  that  its  members 
are  free  to  accept  or  deny  every  article  of  its  teaching." 

Some  religionists  seem  to  consider  that  the  true  universality,  or 
catholicity  of  religion,  consists,  not  in  teaching  all  truth,  but  in  allow- 
ing men  the  widest  latitude  in  denying  all  truth.  The  idea  of  heresy 
has  been  lost  in  a  great  measure;  it  is  now  considered  simply  an 
ill-mannered  term  of  abuse ;  trie  word  has  no  meaning  because  there 
is  no  reality  that  corresponds  to  it.  According  to  the  people  of 
whom  I  speak,  heresy  is  religion.  The  man  who  exercises  his 
own  independent  choice,  and  bows  to  no  authority,  and  binds  him- 
self definitely  to  no  religious  body,  he  is  the  ideal  religious  man  of 
men.  Yet  he  is  the  one  whom  the  apostle  denounces  and  bids  us 
avoid.  Those  who  hold  to  the  teaching  of  Our  Lord  and  the 
prophets  on  the  point  of  unity,  are  treated  in  the  same  way  as  Our 
Lord  and  the  prophets  themselves;  they  are  hated  by  all  men. 
Perhaps  no  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church  gives  such  offense  as  her 
teaching  that  true  religion  is  one.  Her  most  prominent  charac- 
teristic, viz.,  her  internal  peace  and  harmony  on  matters  of  belief, 
which  is  one  of  the  chief  proofs  of  the  divine  presence  in  her,  is 
regarded  almost  as  a  crime.  This  unity  is  set  down  as  a  result  of 
fraud,  or  violence,  or  of  ignorance  and  want  of  independence.  So 
was  Our  Lord  treated  by  the  Jews.  The  proofs  of  His  divinity  were 
distorted  into  arguments  against  Him.  His  miracles  were  repre- 
sented as  proving  that  He  had  a  devil  and  worked  under  that 
influence. 


202  THE  CREED. 

The  doctrine  that  there  is  no  absolute  standard  of  religious  truth, 
and  that  unity  is  unimportant  is  certainly  a  most  convenient  delu- 
sion. If  this  be  so,  and  if  one  religion  be  as  good  as  every  other, 
then  a  man  need  never  harass  his  mind  in  searching  after  truth,  he 
can  follow  his  taste  and  his  interests  in  choosing  his  religion,  he 
need  never  make  any  sacrifice  to  his  convictions  or  his  conscience, 
he  need  never  abandon  all  to  follow  Christ,  he  is  never  called  to 
embrace  an  unpopular  religion.  No  wonder  that,  with  these  induce- 
ments, many  men  resist  the  stern  doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  that  religion 
is  one  only,  and  that  salvation  depends  on  our  seeking  it  out  with 
many  labors,  and  embracing  it  at  all  costs. 

III.  Let  us  glance  briefly  at  a  few  proofs  of  this  important  doc- 
trine, that  religion  is  one,  that  it  is  a  well-organized,  consistent  sys- 
tem, having  unity  in  itself.  One  of  the  chief  indications  of  the 
action  of  God  in  the  universe  is  the  evidence,  visible  throughout,  of 
intelligent  design,  accommodating  all  the  parts  to  one  another,  and 
showing  one  dominant  purpose  in  it  all.  The  argument  of  design  is 
one  of  the  chief  proofs  of  the  existence  of  God.  It  proves  that  one 
supreme  force  controlled  the  whole  of  creation,  that  an  infinite  wis- 
dom guided  everything  on  a  constant  principle,  and  that  this  force 
and  wisdom  can  be  nothing  else  than  God.  Design  is  just  the  oppo- 
site of  chance,  disorder,  irregularity ;  it  amounts  in  fact  to  unity  and 
harmony.  These  are  the  qualities  of  the  material  creation.  "Thou 
hast  ordered  all  things  in  measure,  and  number,  and  weight"  (Wisd. 
xi,  21 ).  One  set  of  laws  prevails  everywhere.  Myriads  of  worlds 
greater  than  our  own  are  moving  regularly  through  space;  we  can 
calculate  their  motions,  we  can  examine  their  surfaces ;  and  we  find 
that  they  are  regulated  by  the  same  laws  of  gravitation,  and  attrac- 
tion, and  heat  that  exist  on  this  earth.  With  our  microscopes  we 
can  discover  living  beings  in  the  smallest  particles  of  dust,  or  water, 
or  of  our  own  blood ;  in  every  one  of  these  we  can  detect  the  same 
laws  of  structure  that  we  find  in  our  own  bodies.  There  is  an 
almost  infinite  diversity  of  creatures,  organized  and  inorganic,  yet 
every  one  of  these  has  its  appointed  purpose,  and  does  its  share 
toward  carrying  on  the  progress  of  the  universe.  Many  things 
are  utterly  opposite  in  character  to  one  another,  such  as  land  and 
water,  continents  covered  with  eternal  ice  or  shrouded  in  mists; 
deserts  of  burning  sand  where  no  life  exists,  and  rich  lands  teeming 
with  animal  and  vegetable  forms ;  there  are  broad  rivers  that  fertilize, 
volcanic  forces  that  deal  out  destruction  at  intervals,  barren  moun- 


THE  UNITY  OF  TRUE  RELIGION.  203 

tain  ranges  that  produce  nothing.  Yet  every  one  of  these  is  related 
to  all  the  others,  every  one  has  its  appointed  function  in  enabling  the 
earth  to  support  human  life.  There  may  be  some  superficial  con- 
flict, but  there  is  a  broad  harmony  prevailing  through  them  all. 
Every  drop  of  rain  that  falls,  every  ray  of  sunlight,  every  insect  that 
works  in  coral  reefs,  every  gnat  that  flits  about  for  its  hour  of  life 
in  the  sunbeams,  every  flash  of  lightning  that  shivers  some  moun- 
tain crag,  every  single  leaf  of  every  tree,  each  is  independent  in  its 
action,  yet  they  all  combine  without  confusion  in  subordination  to 
one  common  purpose.  This  regularity,  this  unity  in  diversity,  is  the 
great  characteristic  of  nature,  that  is,  of  the  material  works  of  God. 
Science  is  ever  discovering  new  harmonies,  new  examples  of  well- 
known  natural  laws;  scientific  discovery  and  prediction  rest  on  the 
fact  that  uniformity  prevails  in  all  God's  operations.  It  may  be 
taken  for  granted  that  the  same  uniformity  and  unity  will  be 
found  in  all  others  of  the  divine  works ;  and  that  the  more  elevated 
and  perfect  a  creature  is,  so  will  it  bear  more  distinctly  impressed 
upon  it  these  same  characteristics  of  its  creator. 

Man  is  the  crown  of  creation,  the  noblest  of  God's  works,  the 
master  of  the  material  world.  The  innumerable  and  lengthy  pro- 
cesses of  creation  were  all  a  preparation  of  this  earth  to  be  his 
abode;  everything  was  moulded  during  countless  ages  that!  he 
might  live,  might  exercise  his  faculties,  and  might  accomplish  his 
end — the  salvation  of  his  soul.  Everything  that  exists  is  subordi- 
nate to  the  spiritual  interests  of  man.  For  this  great  object  God 
created  two  orders  of  things,  the  natural  order  of  the  universe  for 
the  physical  needs  of  men,  and  the  supernatural  order,  consisting  of  a 
revealed  system  of  spiritual  truths,  laws,  and  worship.  This  super- 
natural order  of  human  life  is  the  last  and  highest  effort  of  the 
divine  action  in  the  world.  It  is  the  final  manifestation  of  God.  It 
is  the  chief  instrument  of  the  glory  which  is  paid  to  Him  by  His 
created  works. 

Is  it  conceivable  that  the  characteristic  quality  which  is  so  promi- 
nent in  the  natural  order  should  be  absolutely  wanting  in  the  super- 
natural? Is  it  conceivable  that  the  beautiful  harmony  and  unity 
which  mark  the  inferior  works  of  God,  should  be  absent  from  the 
most  important  work  of  all ;  that  God  should  have  made  such  com- 
plete and  regular  provision  for  the  secondary  means  of  salvation, 
and  only  the  most  casual,  scanty,  and  uncertain  provision,  for  the 
primary  means  of  salvation,  viz.,  religious  guidance?  Is  there  no 


204 


THE  CREED. 


analogy  between  the  order  of  nature  and  the  order  of  grace?  The 
general  truths  of  nature  are  certain,  the  laws  of  nature  are  immu- 
table, the  duties  of  life  always  the  same,  and  they  are  clearly  mani- 
fested to  us.  Would  not  God's  action  be  inconsistent  with  itself, 
if  He  had  left  the  religious  order  in  the  state  that  some  men  con- 
ceive; in  a  state  of  anarchy  and  lawlessness,  uncertainty  and  dis- 
cussion, divided  against  itself,  split  up  into  warring  fragments,  with 
no  fixed  criterion  of  truth,  with  no  authority  to  command  obedi- 
ence? That  is  the  ideal  of  the  Christian  Church  according  to  the 
majority  of  non-Catholics.  If  the  same  were  the  divine  ideal,  it 
would  utterly  falsify  the  Scripture  which  saith  "God  is  not  the 
God  of  dissension  but  of  peace"  (I  Cor.  xiv,  33). 

The  modern  theory  of  disorder  as  the  basis  of  true  religion  has 
been  accepted  by  non-Catholics  as  a  convenient  explanation  of  the 
religious  phenomena  of  the  last  three  centuries.  Men  have  pre- 
ferred their  own  deductions  from  abnormal  facts  to  the  direct  evi- 
dence of  the  Scriptures  and  of  Our  Lord  Himself.  As  unity  is  the 
most  prominent  fact  of  the  Catholic  Church,  so  the  most  prominent 
facts  of  non-Catholic  Christianity  are  its  multiplicity  and  its  con- 
tradictions. They  are  facts  indeed  of  religion,  but  they  are  not  of 
divine  appointment;  they  are  an  inevitable  consequence  of  free-will 
and  the  misuse  of  it;  like  scandals  in  the  Church,  they  needs  must 
come,  but  nevertheless  woe  to  that  man  by  whom  they  come.  Disorder 
and  disunion  must  necessarily  be  found  in  men's  apprehension  of 
religion,  as  soon  as  they  depart  from  the  divine  rule  of  faith;  but 
the  principles  of  divine  government  do  not  change  like  human 
institutions,  according  to  popular  demands.  However  widely  men 
may  revolt  against  the  divine  decree  of  unity  and  subordination, 
however  attached  they  may  be  to  free  and  independent  disorder, 
however  many  religions  they  may  start,  God  still  maintains  the  one 
religion  which  He  instituted,  He  maintains  its  internal  unity  and 
harmony ;  and  in  this  century,  as  in  the  pages  of  the  New  Testament, 
He  bids  men  accept  that  Church  as  the  sole  ordinary  means  of  salva- 
tion for  all  the  world. 

IV.  If  it  had  been  the  will  of  God  that  the  perfect  revelation,  that 
Christianity  should  consist  of  an  anarchy  of  independent  sects,  and 
that  each  of  these  should  enjoy  a  special  internal  anarchy  of  its 
own,  we  should  have  had  some  indication  of  this  in  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  The  Jewish  is  the  type  of  the  Christian  Church.  We 
should  have  found  evidence  of  a  divinely  appointed  disunion,  of 


THE  UNITY  OF  TRUE  RELIGION.  205 

uncertainty  as  to  doctrines,  and  independence  as  to  laws  and  re- 
straints; the  prophets  would  have  foretold,  and  the  Gospel  would 
have  proclaimed  the  advent  of  a  more  perfect  and  universal  reli- 
gious disorder.  What  we  actually  find  in  Holy  Writ  is  the  one- 
ness of  true  religion  and  its  internal  unity  in  the  Old  Testament; 
and  in  the  New,  not  a  change  from  unity  to  multiplicity,  but  the 
extension  of  the  same  principle  of  unity,  and  the  promise  of  a 
more  perfect  and  universal  internal  harmony. 

i.  Unity  is  as  deeply  impressed  on  the  religion  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment as  it  is  in  nature.  The  central  doctrine  was  the  unity  of  God ; 
even  the  Trinity  of  that  one  God  was  not  revealed  to  the  Jews.  They 
were  constantly  reminded  that  they  were  the  one  chosen  people  of 
God,  that  their  religion  was  the  only  one  revealed  from  heaven, 
that  all  other  religions  were  abominations  before  the  Lord.  They 
had  an  extraordinary  unity  of  worship.  It  was  not  merely  that  there 
was  one  form  of  it,  but  there  was  only  one  Temple  in  which  the 
ceremonial  worship  might  be  celebrated.  None  others  but  the  mem- 
bers of  one  priestly  family  might  offer  sacrifice;  and  it  was  most 
sternly  forbidden  to  erect  altars  and  offer  victims,  even  to  the  true 
God,  elsewhere  than  on  Mount  Sion.  There  was  one  center  of  reli- 
gious truth  and  law,  one  authority  alone  was  appointed  to  decide 
disputed  points,  there  was  no  sacred  right  of  violating  unity  and 
establishing  independent  religious  communities. 

The  prophecies  all  speak  of  the  future  Church  as  a  far  more  glo- 
rious and  perfect  organization  than  the  Jewish  system.  It  is  to  be 
one  kingdom  extending  from  pole  to  pole,  embracing  the  multitude 
of  the  sea,  and  the  strength  of  the  gentiles,  the  dromedaries  of 
Madian  and  Epha,  the  flocks  of  Cedar,  and  the  rams  of  Nabaioth. 
The  islands,  and  kings  from  afar,  and  the  children  of  them  that 
afflicted  the  Church  shall  come  bowing  down,  and  they  that  serve 
her  not  shall  perish.  The  Church  is  to  be  a  more  complete  reflection 
of  the  divine  perfections:  "The  Lord  shall  arise  upon  thee,  and  his 
glory  shall  be  seen  in  thee"  (Isa.  Ix). 

The  disintegrated  Christianity  that  exists  outside  the  Catholic 
Church  can  in  no  sense  be  called  a  united  and  universal  kingdom; 
it  does  not  in  any  way  correspond  to  prophecy,  it  is  rather  a  degen- 
eration from  than  a  perfecting  of  the  former  system.  The  progress 
of  the  world  combines  families  into  tribes,  tribes  into  nations,  nations 
into  confederacies,  it  puts  an  end  to  private  feuds  and  civil  wars,  and 
tends  to  discourage  wars  between  nations,  it  organizes  human 


2o6  THE  CREED. 

efforts  of  every  kind  throughout  the  world,  and  brings  all  men  into 
closer  relations  with  one  another ;  progress  in  short  promotes  union ; 
and  the  more  united  society  is,  the  more  perfect  is  it.  The  perfec- 
tion of  religion  must  also  consist  in  unity  and  internal  harmony.  If  it 
recedes  from  these,  it  is  on  the  downward  grade  to  dissolution,  it  is 
relapsing  into  the  conditions  of  bygone  barbarous  times,  it  is  in- 
ferior in  character  to  the  former  Jewish  system  which  it  replaced. 
If  it  were  not  for  the  existence  of  the  Catholic  Church  with  its  broad 
unity,  its  great  numbers,  its  harmonious  organization,  Christianity, 
as  it  is  outside  the  Church,  would  fail  to  accomplish  ancient  pro- 
phecy, and  would  be  nothing  better  than  a  failure. 

2.  Turning  now  to  the  words  that  Our  Lord  spoke  of  the  Church 
He  was  establishing,  we  find  the  same  insistence  on  unity.  His 
Church  was  to  be  a  single,  organized  body,  and  not  a  mob  of  irre- 
sponsible individuals,  nor  a  multitude  of  independent  hostile  com- 
munities. The  kingdom  of  heaven  is  likened  to  one  net  containing 
fish  of  all  sizes,  to  a  tree  whose  spreading  branches  fill  the  whole 
earth  and  give  shelter  to  all  the  fowls  of  the  air,  to  a  single  field  of 
corn  which  is  oversown  with  cockle,  to  a  compact  lump  of  leaven 
which  works  through  a  large  mass  of  meal,  to  a  house  founded  on 
a  rock.  More  definite  still  is  the  comparison  of  the  Church  to  a 
sheepfold,  which  all  must  enter  in  one  way.  Our  Lord  anticipates 
those  who  hold  that  men  can  serve  Him  acceptably  in  different 
religions :  "Other  sheep  I  have  that  are  not  of  this  fold."  If  He  had 
stopped  there,  it  would  have  been  a  weighty  argument  for  the  non- 
Catholic  view ;  but  He  disposes  forever  of  that  view  in  the  final 
words  of  the  same  passage :  "them  also  I  must  bring,  and  they  shall 
hear  my  voice,  and  there  shall  be  one  fold  and  one  shepherd" 
(John  x,  16).  Again  at  a  most  solemn  moment,  just  before  He  gave 
Himself  to  death,  Our  Lord  prayed  for  His  Church.  And  what  is  the 
burthen  of  His  prayer?  It  is  the  perpetual  unity  of  the  Church. 
"Holy  Father,  keep  them  in  my  name  whom  thou  hast  given  me; 
that  they  may  be  one  as  we  also  are  one.  .  .  .  And  not  for 
them  only  do  I  pray,  but  for  them  also  who  through  their  word 
shall  believe  in  me :  that  they  may  be  all  one,  as  thou  Father  in  me 
and  I  in  thee :  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us,  that  the  world  may 
believe  that  thou  hast  sent  me.  And  the  glory  which  thou  hast 
given  me  I  have  given  to  them,  that  they  may  be  one  as  we  also  are 
one,  I  in  them  and  thou  in  me:  that  they  may  be  made  perfect  in 
one ;  and  the  world  may  know  that  thou  hast  sent  me,  and  hast  loved 


THE  UNITY  OF  TRUE  RELIGION.  207 

them  as  thou  also  hast  loved  me"  (John  xvii,  n,  20-23).  ^s  & 
possible  to  believe  in  the  face  of  this  that  unity  is  a  matter  of  no 
consequence,  that  no  provision  has  been  made  for  uniformity  of 
teaching,  and  legislation,  that  any  individual  is  at  liberty  to  set  up  his 
own  little  conventicle,  and  select  his  own  faith  in  opposition  to  the 
universal  church? 

3.  The  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  follows  His  Master  closely 
in  upholding  unity,  and  denouncing  sects  and  private  opinions.  "Be 
careful  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace.  One 
body  and  one  spirit,  as  you  are  called  in  one  hope  of  your  calling. 
One  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism.  One  God  and  Father  of  all" 
(Ephes.  iv,  3-6).  "He  gave  some  apostles,  and  some  prophets  .  .  . 
for  the  edifying  of  the  body  of  Christ;  until  we  all  meet  into  the 
unity  of  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God  .  .  . 
that  henceforth  we  be  no  more  children  tossed  to  and  fro  and 
carried  about  with  every  wind  of  doctrine  by  the  wickedness  of  men, 
by  cunning  craftiness  by  which  they  lie  in  wait  to  deceive"  (Eph.  iv, 
11-14).  And  once  more:  "I  beseech  you,  brethren,  by  the  name  of 
Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  you  all  speak  the  same  thing,  and  that 
there  be  no  schisms  among  you;  but  that  you  be  perfect  in  the 
same  mind  and  the  same  judgment"  (I  Cor.  i,  10).  Finally  there 
is  a  passage  which  denies  all  right  of  dissenting  from  the  Church, 
and  refutes  the  plea  that  men  should  examine  for  themselves,  and 
decide  privately  without  regard  to  unity:  "Understanding  this  first, 
that  no  prophecy  of  Scripture  is  made  by  private  interpretation" 
(II  Pet.  i,  20). 

V.  Let  us  apply  these  principles  to  the  present  state  of  the  reli- 
gious world.  Put  out  of  consideration  the  Catholic  Church,  and  look 
only  at  the  great  numbers  of  Christians  who  have  accepted  these 
"blessed  principles  of  the  Reformation."  What  do  we  see?  Not  a 
holy  city  of  Jerusalem,  a  vision  of  eternal  peace,  but  a  veritable 
Babel,  a  city  of  confusion.  While  formerly  one  identical  religion 
prevailed  over  the  whole  of  Europe,  now  one  country  has,  perhaps, 
two  hundred  separate  registered  religions,  each  with  a  different  set 
of  doctrines,  each  condemning  all  the  others.  And  within  the  limits 
of  any  of  those  small  bodies,  we  shall  hardly  find  any  two  indi- 
viduals in  complete  agreement.  Two  churches  of  the  same  denom- 
ination will  differ  in  every  respect,  in  external  forms  and  in  doc- 
trines, so  that  a  member  of  one  will  hardly  worship  in  the  other 
church.  Even  in  the  same  pulpit,  on  the  same  day,  two  ministers 


208  THE  CREED. 

of  the  same  faith  will  preach  two  contradictory  doctrines  with  im- 
punity. On  the  gravest  subjects,  Baptismal  Regeneration,  Absolu- 
tion, the  Lord's  Supper,  Hell,  the  Atonement,  the  Resurrection,  the 
Divinity  of  Our  Lord,  members  of  a  church  may  be  diametrically 
opposed,  and  yet  equally  orthodox,  and  equally  free  from  the  re- 
proach of  heresy.  Is  this  state  of  things  the  perfection  of  Gospel 
religion?  Is  this  the  glorious  vision  revealed  by  God  to  the 
prophets?  Is  all  this  the  one  fold  of  Christ?  Is  this 
being  one  as  Christ  and  His  Father  are  one?  Is  this  the 
glory  given  to  Him  by  the  Father,  and  given  by  Christ  to  His 
Church;  a  glory  and  a  unity  that  will  convince  the  world  that  the 
Church  is  sent  from  God?  On  the  contrary  this  "liberty,"  and 
"broadness,"  and  "comprehensiveness"  have  made  Christianity  a 
by-word  and  a  mockery  among  civilized  men;  even  the  unlettered 
heathen  recognize  the  unreasonableness  of  such  a  system  of  religion, 
and  Protestant  missionaries  testify  that  their  internal  dissensions 
are  the  chief  obstacle  to  the  diffusion  of  what  they  call  the  gospel. 
The  members  of  the  sects  are  not  so  blind,  but  that  they  see  at 
times  the  evils  of  disunion,  and  make  some  inadequate  efforts  to 
promote  corporate  reunion  among  themselves,  or  even  with  the 
Catholic  Church.  May  God  grant  that  many  more  may  come  to  see 
clearly  this  most  obvious  truth,  that  unity  is  a  mark  of  true  religion, 
and  may  He  grant  them  what  they  require  even  more  than  light,  the 
strength  to  be  true  to  their  convictions,  to  rise  superior  to  earthly 
interest,  and  to  leave  their  country  and  their  father's  house  to 
enter  the  land  which  the  Lord  their  God  shall  show  them. 


OUT  OF  THE  CHURCH  NO  SALVATION.  209 


XXV.    OUT  OF  THE  CHURCH  NO  SALVATION. 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REV.  JAMES  BELLORD,  D.D. 
I. 

"The  nation  and  the  kingdom  that  will  not  serve  thee  shall  perish."— Isaias 
Ix,  12. 

SYNOPSIS. — /.  This  axiom  misunderstood  by  Catholics  as  well  as  by 
Protestants.  The  Protestant  interpretation.  This  explanation  must  be 
rejected  as  against  the  goodness,  justice  of  God  and  in  opposition  to  the 
value  of  immortal  souls.  Such  an  interpretation  akin  to  the  doctrine  of 
predestination  of  Calvin.  Rousseau's  attribution  of  this  axiom  to-  the 
Catholic  Church. 

II.  The  question  of  the  salvation  of  individual  souls  outside  the 
sphere  of  human  judgment  belongs  to  God  alone.  This  truth  is  therefore  to 
be  applied  in  general,  not  to  the  individual  soul.    All  the  circumstances' 
must  be  considered,  v.  g.:  ignorance  of  truth,  hereditary  prejudice,  etct 
The  true  meaning. 

III.  Christ  founded  one  Church— therefore  all  must  belong.     The 
testimony  of  Scripture  on  this  point.    Disobedience  in  this  as  well  as  other 
matters  is  sinful;  death  in  sin  is  punished  eternally.    Ignorance  when  not 
voluntary  not  sinful. 

IV.  When  not  condemned  for  opinions  but  for  neglect  of  divinely 
revealed  truth.    The  persistent  rejection  of  grace  leading  to  death  in  sin 
is  the  one  cause  of  damnation.    Rightly  understood  this  doctrine  is  no 
more  intolerant  than  the  requirements  of  the  sects.    Evil  consequences', 
sometimes  follow  from  this  law,  but  so  too  in  respect  to  every  other  law. 
This  doctrine  not  opposed  to  divine  mercy  or  justice.     In  fact  a  very 
reasonable  one,  once  it  is  evident  that  Christ  founded  one  visible  Church. 

I.  "Out  of  the  Church  there  is  no  salvation."  This  is  the  brief 
expression  of  a  very  important  doctrine,  of  a  very  great  truth.  It 
looks  a  simple  and  clear  expression,  but  it  is  not  without  its  diffi- 
culties. It  lies  open  to  misunderstanding;  it  may  very  easily  be 
misrepresented  so  as  to  convey  a  totally  false  impression.  Taken 
by  itself  and  apart  from  certain  other  doctrines  of  the  Church,  it 
is  sure  to  be  misleading,  not  only  to  outsiders,  but  perhaps  also 
to  some  members  of  the  Church  who  do  not  look  at  it  from  all 
points  of  view.  As  it  stands  it  might  appear  to  draw  an  exact  and 
definite  line  between  good  and  bad,  sheep  and  goats,  and  to  show 
us  at  a  glance  who  are  saved  and  who  are  not,  who  are  on  the 
way  to  eternal  life  and  who  to  eternal  death.  As  to  the  great 
multitudes  of  mankind  who  are  outside  the  visible  unity  of  the 


THE  CREED. 

Church,  who  belong  to  other  religious  bodies  or  to  no  religion  at  all, 
the  phrase  seems  to  condemn  them  all,  without  exception  and  under 
all  circumstances,  to  inevitable  exclusion  from  the  kingdom  of 
God. 

This  misapprehension  is  generally  current  among  outsiders  as 
being  the  authentic  belief  of  Catholics.  Our  enemies  have  not  been 
slow  to  take  advantage  of  it  and  turn  it  against1  the  Church,  making 
her  appear  cruel,  and  unreasonable;  making  her  out  as  impugning 
the  infinite  mercy  and  infinite  goodness  of  God,  and  attributing  to 
Him  harshness,  cruelty,  and  injustice.  Such  persons  are  guided  by 
their  first  impressions,  and  they  do  not  take  the  trouble  to  inquire 
if  these  correspond  with  Catholic  doctrine.  They  are  too  anxious 
about  finding  fault  with  the  Church  to  be  particular  as  to  facts. 

The  Catholic  doctrine  then  is  assumed  to  be  as  follows :  Every  one 
who  is  not  visibly  and  externally  enrolled  in  the  Church  and  who 
dies  in  that  state,  is  lost  forever.  Christians  belonging  to  all  the 
different  sects  that  have  gone  off  from  the  one  true  Church,  Jews, 
Mohammedans,  Pagans  are  excluded  from  all  possibility  of  salva- 
tion. However  much  or  little  they  knew  of  divine  revelation,  how- 
ever good  the  lives  they  lead,  however  they  may  have  corresponded 
with  grace  and  practiced  such  duties  as  they  knew,  not  one  of  them 
can  ever  be  saved.  We  are  supposed  to  hold  that  there  is  no  virtue, 
no  service  of  God,  no  grace,  outside  the  visible  boundary  of  the 
Church.  That  salvation  depends  on  a  more  external  circumstance 
beyond  the  control  of  most  men,  on  accidents  of  birth,  education, 
character,  opportunities,  for  which  they  are  not  responsible.  That 
God,  therefore,  has  created  these  uncounted  millions  with  no  other 
possibility  before  them  than  to  be  punished  with  eternal  torments. 

Such  a  doctrine  is  most  shocking  and  blasphemous,  it  is  revolting 
to  the  moral  sense  of  mankind ;  and  this  is  what  is  attributed  to  the 
Catholic  Church.  But  this  is  no  part  of  the  Church's  teaching. 
It  is  not  found  in  Sacred  Scripture,  nor  in  any  of  the  Church's 
creeds  or  dogmatic  definitions,  nor  in  any  spiritual  writer.  It  is  im- 
possible for  Catholics  to  hold  a  doctrine  that  attributes  such  in- 
justice to  the  most  just  God.  It  revolts  them  more  than  others,  for 
they  know  more  than  others  of  the  value  of  human  souls,  of  the 
infinite  mercy  of  God,  of  the  duty  of  charitable  judgments  and  de- 
sires concerning  the  salvation  of  men. 

It  was  Calvin  who  first  taught  the  abominable  doctrine  that  God 
created  certain  of  mankind  for  eternal  loss.  Some,  he  said,  are 


OUT  OF  THE  CHURCH  NO  SALVATION.  211 

predestined  to  be  saved,  and  will  be  saved,  however  badly  they  live ; 
others  are  reprobate  from  the  first,  and  however  well  they  may  live, 
they  can  not  escape  from  the  sentence  of  condemnation.  Rousseau, 
in  the  last  century,  is  principally  responsible  for  fastening  this 
calumny  on  the  Catholic  Church.  He  explained  in  a  Calvinistic 
sense  the  maxim,  "Out  of  the  Church  no  salvation."  The  enemies 
of  religion,  finding  this  doctrine  held  by  certain  self-styled  Chris- 
tians, insisted  on  regarding  it  as  an  essentially  Christian  doctrine, 
and  therefore  as  a  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church.  The  Catholic 
phrase  has  been  interpreted,  then,  in  a  sense  directly  contrary  to  the 
real  one,  and  has  been  ever  since  made  a  standard  reproach  against 
the  Church. 

II.  The  words  we  are  considering  require  explanation.  They  are 
not  so  clear  and  definite  as  they  appear.  To  those  who  are  acquainted 
with  theology  they  are  an  intelligible  summary  of  several  points  of 
doctrine.  They  know  in  what  sense  the  expression  is  used,  to  whom 
it  applies,  and  what  limitations  and  exceptions  are  understood. 
Without  such  knowledge  the  phrase  is  unintelligible,  like  a  chemical 
formula  to  the  uninitiated. 

i.  It  is  evident  that  a  vast  subject  like  the  salvation  of  the  souls 
of  all  mankind,  a  subject  of  which  the  factors  are  infinitely  various, 
can  not  be  decided  in  all  its  details  by  one  brief  phrase.  The 
dealings  of  God's  mercy  and  justice  with  millions  of  souls,  all  placed 
in  different  circumstances,  are  too  complicated  to  be  easily  fathomed 
by  us.  It  is  not  for  us  to  reckon  up  each  man's  secret  dispositions, 
his  intentions  in  every  act  of  his  life,  his  excuses,  the  degree  of  his 
good  faith,  and  the  amount  of  his  deliberate  malice.  Even  his  overt 
and  visible  sins  are  beyond  the  reach  of  our  judgment.  We  can 
hardly  judge  of  our  own  guilt  on  all  occasions,  much  less  of  another 
man's  guilt  whose  mind  we  can  not  read.  His  sin  perhaps  may  be 
his  misfortune  rather  than  his  fault;  it  may  arise  from  natural 
rather  than  from  moral  deficiencies ;  that  which  is  a  grave  sin  in  one 
may  be  excusable  in  another.  And  further,  when  life  is  already  over 
and  one  is  on  the  brink  of  death,  there  are  mysteries  of  divine  mercy 
and  justice  which  take  place  in  the  departing  soul,  and  may  even 
then  change  the  whole  current  of  the  previous  life.  There  are  intri- 
cate ways,  outside  the  course  of  God's  ordinary  providence,  which 
may  lead  many  a  soul  to  life.  No  maxim  however  true,  no  external 
test  applied  to  a  portion  of  life,  can  solve  the  question  of  the  destiny 
of  all  mankind,  nor  even  of  one  single  soul. 


212 


THE  CREED. 


2.  The  secret  of  men's  salvation  is  rigidly  reserved  from  us.    Like 
the  date  of  the  day  of  judgment,  which  was  not  made  known  to  the 
angels  of  heaven,  so  this  secret  has  not  been  included  in  the  revelation 
made  to  the  Church.    We  have  been  only  told  in  general  terms  of 
heaven,  and  hell,  and  purgatory.  We  know  that  many  are  lost  eter- 
nally. We  know  by  certain  special  revelations,  or  by  the  Church's  de- 
crees of  canonization,  that  some  souls  are  in  heaven.    But  as  to  the 
destination  of  any  other  souls,  and  as  to  the  future  lot  of  ourselves 
and  others,  we  are  in  the  profoundest  ignorance.    The  knowledge  is 
not  essential  to  the  working  out  of  our  salvation;  it  would  be 
harmful,  and  God,  therefore,  has  not  given  it  to  us.    The  Apostles 
were  troubled  about  the  future  and  asked,  "Lord,  are  they  few  that 
are  saved?     But  He  said  to  them:  Strive  to  enter  by  the  narrow 
gate ;  for  many,  I  say  to  you,  shall  seek  to  enter  and  shall  not  be  able" 
(Luke  xiii,  23,  24).    The  words,  "Out  of  the  Church  no  salvation," 
convey  to  us  a  general  truth  which  we  can  not  apply  to  particular 
instances.     They  are  like  those  words  of  Scripture:  "He  that  be- 
lieveth  not  shall  be  condemned"    (Mark  xvi,   16).     We  can  not 
gather  from  them  what  God  is  unwilling  we  should  know;  they 
will  not  help  us  to  extort  His  secrets  from  Him. 

3.  In  regard  therefore  to  the  numbers  of  the  elect  and  of  the 
lost,  the  Church  has  made  no  definition,  and  there  is  liberty  of 
speculation.    We  have  only  some  general  principles  which  are  inter- 
preted differently  by  different  persons.     Some  have  taken  broader, 
some  stricter  views,  according  to  the  different  points  of  view,  or  the 
circumstances  of  different  lands  and  epochs,  or  the  greater  rigor  or 
leniency  of  their  own  characters.     In  a  society  where  all  men  have 
learnt  the  truth,  where  there  is  no  excuse  for  ignorance  and  no 
involuntary  prejudices  of  education,  the  maxim  would  bear  a  more 
strict  and  severe  sense.     Any  one  who  deliberately  abandoned  the 
external  communion  of  the  Church  would  be  justly  regarded  as 
placing  himself,  until  he  should  repent,  on  the  road  to  hell.     But 
in  a  community  which  is  ignorant  of  the  Catholic  faith,  which  has 
been  grossly  misinformed  about  it,  in  which  men  possess  a  sufficient 
minimum  of  Catholic  doctrine  and  seem  to  serve  God  according  to 
their  lights,  the  phrase  must  bear  a  much  more  lenient  construction, 
and  it  will  not  justify  us  in  asserting  that'  any  particular  man  is  lost 
eternally  or  will  be  lost. 

III.  Let  us  now  consider  what  is  the  exact  meaning  of  the  maxim, 
"Out  of  the  Church  no  salvation."    The  principle  of  it  is  admitted 


OUT  OF  THE  CHURCH  NO  SALVATION.  213 

by  all  men  who  profess  any  form  of  religion.  It  means  generally, 
that  there  are  certain  conditions  of  salvation  imposed  by  Jesus 
Christ;  that  among  those  conditions  is  a  law  of  belief  imposed 
on  the  intellect  and  a  certain  membership  with  the  body  of  Christ's 
followers ;  and  that  these  conditions  bind  all  who  have  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  them. 

1.  We  learn  from  the  Old  Testament  and  the  Gospels  that  Our 
Lord  established  one  body  of  men,  to  teach  one  body  of  truths,  and 
to  gather  His  followers  into  one  organization  of  world-wide  extent. 
This  society  was  modelled,  not  in  the  form  of  a  mob;  nor  of  a 
kingdom  in  a  state  of  anarchy  divided  against  itself;  nor  of  a 
collection  of  separate  nations,  each  under  its  own  standard,  under 
separate   rulers,   with   different  internal  arrangements,  and  all  at 
war  one  with  another;  but  it  was  in  the  form  of  a  kingdom,  one, 
united,   solid,   and   strong,  and  universal.     Such   an  arrangement 
was  necessary  in  order  to  secure  a  consistent  teaching,  to  prevent  the 
introduction  of  error,  to  keep  up  the  communication  of  part  with  part, 
and  the  sense  of  brotherhood  among  members,  and  to  enable  them 
to  present  a  united  front  to  the  attacks  of  their  enemies.     To  this 
society   was   committed   all   the   machinery  of   salvation,   doctrine, 
worship,  the  Sacraments,  laws,  and  the  continual  presence  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  of  God. 

2.  The  foundation  of  one  such  Church  implies  an  obligation  on 
all  men  to  embrace  it.     But  particular  commands  are  not  wanting. 
The  Church  was  appointed  to  teach  all  men.     To  hear  it  is  the 
same  as  hearing  Jesus  Christ  Himself,  to  despise  it  is  to  despise  Him. 
He  that  heareth  not  the  Church  is  to  be  esteemed,  not  as  a  different 
branch  on  the  same  trunk,  but  as  a  heathen  and  a  publican.    They 
who  refuse  to  believe  any  doctrine  of  truth  shall  be  condemned.    St. 
Paul  insists  on  the  one  Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism.     H,e  pro- 
nounces anathema  on  any  one  who  shall  preach  a  different  doctrine 
from  that  already  delivered.    He  forbids  sects  and  religious  differ- 
ences.   The  heretic  is  to  be  cut  off  from  association  with  the  faith- 
ful, and  is  not  even  to  be  saluted  in  the  streets.    St.  John  threatens 
eternal  death  to  any  who  shall  take  away  from  the  words  which  God 
had  bidden  him  proclaim.    And  to  go  back  to  the  Old  Testament, 
our  text  declares  that  out'  of  the  Church  of  the  Messias  there  shall 
be  no  salvation:  "The  nation  and  the  kingdom  that  will  not  serve 
thee  shall  perish"  (Isa.  Ix,  12). 

3.  Under  these  circumstances,  membership  in  the  Church  is  the 


2i4  THE  CREED. 

chief  external  condition  of  salvation,  it  is  the  appointed  form  of 
enrollment  in  the  army  of  Christ.  God  has  demanded  this  act  of 
open  profession  and  of  our  submission  to  his  orders,  in  addition  to 
spiritual  service  of  mind  and  heart.  It  is  not  for  us  to  say 
that  external  observances  are  less  important  than  those  of  the  soul ; 
it  is  not  for  us  to  keep  back  according  to  our  whims  a  certain  por- 
tion of  that  holocaust  of  service  which  God  requires  of  us.  Whether 
more  or  less  important,  all  that  He  commands  is  essential.  We  may 
pretend  only  to  refuse  Him  a  part,  but  our  attitude  toward  Him 
is  one  of  revolt.  Deliberate  disobedience  is  a  sin,  and  those  who 
persist  in  sin  and  die' in  it,  are  cut  off  from  God  forever.  Whether 
it  be  keeping  holy  the  Sabbath  Day,  or  receiving  the  Body  of  the 
Lord,  or  embracing  the  Church  which  He  founded,  for  those  who 
disobey  and  persist  there  is  no  salvation. 

4.  Now  we  inquire  who  are  affected  by  the  command  to  accept 
the  Church  under  penalty  of  eternal  punishment  for  not  doing  so. 
Is  it  every  man  who  under  any  circumstances  is  outside  the  Catholic 
communion?  Certainly  not.  Laws  bind  only  those  who  know  of 
them.  Penalties  are  for  those  only  who  deliberately  disobey.  The 
word,  "Out  of  the  Church  no  salvation"  is  to  be  viewed  as  an  ordi- 
nary law.  It  is  said  of  ordinary  cases  and  not  of  exceptions.  It  is 
not  applicable  to  those  who  are  outside  the  scope  of  the  law.  It 
takes  no  account  of  those  to  whom  the  law  has  not  been  promulgated. 
Any  who  by  no  fault  of  their  own  are  outside  the  unity  of  the  Catho- 
lic Church  will  be  judged  by  another  law,  by  that  which  they  do 
know.  Penalties  are  not  for  the  ignorant,  but  for  the  disobedient; 
and  disobedience  resides  in  the  .will,  and  not  in  external  circum- 
stances which  are  beyond  one's  own  control.  The  accidents  of  birth 
or  education  can  not  be  imputed  to  any  one  for  blame.  A  person 
is  not  disobedient  because  he  has  been  born  outside  the  Catholic 
Church ;  he  is  not  in  rebellion  to  God  while,  knowing  nothing  of  the 
religion  founded  by  Jesus  Christ,  he  remains  in  a  false  one  which 
he  honestly  believes  to  be  true.  That  which  would  be  a  grievous 
sin  in  an  enlightened  man,  is  no  sin  to  him,  because,  on  our  sup- 
position, he  is  not  morally  responsible  for  it.  "Out  of  the  Church 
no  salvation,"  means  no  more  than  this,  that  those  who  know  suffi- 
cient of  the  Catholic  Church  to  recognize  or  suspect  her  divine 
authority  and  the  obligation  they  are  under  of  submitting  to  her, 
and  who  deliberately  disregard  the  command  of  God,  are  guilty  of 
a  mortal  sin,  which  separates  them  from  God's  kingdom  on  earth, 


OUT  OF  THE  CHURCH  NO  SALVATION. 

and  will  cut  them  off,  unless  repented  of,  from  the  kingdom  of 
heaven , 

IV.  We  may  see  now  what  the  maxim  does  not  mean.  It  does  not 
mean  that  a  line  is  drawn  between  men  by  a  merely  external  cir- 
cumstance, a  thing  which  may  often  be  considered  as  an  accident  for 
which  they  are  not  responsible.  It  certainly  does  not  mean  that  all 
who  are  in  outward  communion  with  the  Catholic  Church  will  be 
saved,  and  that  all  who  are  outside  will  be  condemned.  It  does  not 
mean  that  men  are  created  to  be  lost,  or  placed  in  a  position  where 
they  can  not  save  their  souls,  or  punished  in  any  way  for  what  they 
can  not  help.  Neither  does  it  mean  that  any  one  is  rejected  by  God 
simply  for  his  opinions,  as  they  say.  The  Catholic  Church  holds 
as  firmly  as  any  one  that  men  are  not  amenable  to  punishment  for 
opinions.  She  has  often  silenced  those  who  held  that  opinions 
which  they  did  not  share  were  sinful  and  punishable.  The  question 
is,  not  of  opinions,  but  of  truths  sufficiently  revealed  by  God  and 
known  as  such.  Opinions  are  always  free.  But  he  who  opposes 
positive  divine  truths,  or  who  would  reduce  them  to  the  level  of 
mere  opinions,  he  is  sinning  against  God's  highest  law  and  most 
precious  graces,  he  is  placing  himself  outside  the  pale  of  salvation. 
If,  however,  the  light  which  God  has  hitherto  accorded  to  any  one 
is  not  sufficient  to  prove  the  divinity  of  the  Church  to  him  as  a 
truth,  but  only  as  an  opinion ;  he  is  then,  for  the  time  being,  exempt 
from  the  law  which  says,  "Out  of  the  Church  no  salvation." 

The  doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church  does  not'  amount  to  a  limita- 
tion of  salvation,  or  a  narrowing  of  the  path  to  life.  Even  the 
phrase  we  are  considering,  though  forever  quoted  as  an  example  of 
the  narrow  views  of  the  Church,  does  not  warrant  us  in  believing 
that  any  particular  person  is  lost,  no  matter  what  his  life  or  his 
creed  may  have  been.  We  can  not  say  of  any  one  who  is  outside 
the  Catholic  communion,  we  can  not  say  of  any  one  even  who  dies 
under  the  ban  of  excommunication,  that  such  a  soul  is  necessarily 
lost.  The  Church  declares  that  no  one  is  lost  by  accident,  but  only 
by  his  own  deliberate  fault;  that  no  single  human  being  is  outside 
the  possibility  of  salvation ;  that  no  one  suffers  the  torments  of  hell 
except  for  the  most  full,  absolute,  and  persistent  rejection  of  God's 
truth  and  grace. 

In  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  "exclusive  salvation,"  as  some  people 
term  it,  there  is  nothing  exceptional,  as  compared  with  other  laws, 
nothing  harsh,  nothing  narrow  or  intolerant.  The  creeds  which  find 


216  THE  CREED.    - 

most  fault  with  it,  admit  the  same  themselves  in  principle.  Every 
denomination  which  holds  to  a  revelation  teaches  that  there  are 
certain  conditions  of  salvation ;  that  any  one  who  is  to  be  saved  must 
be  united  with  a  certain  body  by  means  of  Baptism,  or  by  belief  in 
Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  or  in  the  unity  of  God,  or  in  the  Bible.  It 
is  a  difference  of  degree  only  and  not  of  principle.  The  Catholic 
Church  requires  union  with  a  definite  organization  that  teaches  the 
whole  of  revealed  truth;  other  religions  require  union  with  an 
indefinite  body  in  holding  some  portions  of  divine  revelation.  The 
community  with  which  the  Catholic  Church  commands  us  to  be 
united  is,  if  we  want  all  its  members  from  the  Apostles  to  the  present 
day,  only  slightly  smaller  than  the  body  to  which  our  opponents 
would  have  all  men  united  in  order  to  salvation.  Their  "compre- 
hensiveness," as  they  call  it,  is  by  no  means  universal  for  all  man- 
kind, and  is  only  slightly  wider  than  the  Catholic  "narrowness." 
And  further  still,  the  separated  sects  are  not  altogether  free  even 
yet  from  the  taint  of  Calvinism,  and  most  of  them  would  probably 
exclude  great  numbers  of  the  human  race  from  the  bare  possibility 
of  salvation,  while  the  Catholic  Church,  as  we  have  seen,  excludes 
none.  They  have  little  reason,  then,  to  bring  the  charge  of  intol- 
erance and  narrowness  against  the  Catholic  doctrine,  or  to  speak 
of  it  as  an  exceptional  and  atrocious  teaching. 

But,  it  may  be  said,  the  insistence  on  visible  union  with  the  Church 
as  a  condition  of  salvation  does  place  a  limit,  and  draw  a  line  of 
exclusion,  and  furnish  an  occasion  of  transgression  to  many  souls. 
No  doubt  it  does.  But  the  same  consequences  attach  to  every  other 
law.  The  law  of  private  property,  in  like  manner,  has  its  correla- 
tive in  a  vast  class  of  transgressions  created  by  it.  If  there  were  no 
rights  of  ownership  there  would  be  no  crimes  of  covetousness, 
pilfering,  robbery,  fraud,  swindling,  embezzlement  and  the  rest. 
The  existence  of  that  law  and  of  those  offenses,  draws  a  definite  line 
of  separation,  and  cuts  off  many,  we  know  not  precisely  whom, 
from  ever  entering  heaven.  Yet  there  is  no  harshness  in  this  nar- 
rowing of  salvation.  Those  who  know  the  law  have  the  power  to 
obey  it ;  if  they  offend  against  it  and  suffer  its  penalties,  they  have 
chosen  their  lot.  They  have  to  blame,  not  the  law,  but  their  own 
free  action.  If  any  are  ignorant  of  the  law  or  violate  it  inad- 
vertently they  are  outside  the  scope  of  the  law;  they  have  not 
incurred  the  guilt  of  disobedience  nor  the  liability  to  punishment. 

There  is  nothing  repugnant  to  the  divine  mercy  and  justice,  or  to 


OUT  OF  THE  CHURCH  NO  SALVATION.  217 

right  reason  in  the  appointment  of  certain  conditions,  external  or 
otherwise,  for  the  enjoyment  of  God's  favors.  Such  a  condition  was 
placed  on  Adam  in  paradise,  and  on  all  Christians  when  it  was  said 
of  Baptism:  "Unless  a  man  be  born  again  of  water  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  he  can  not  enter  the  kingdom  of  God"  (John  iii,  5).  Such, 
too,  is  the  duty  of  union  with  the  one  Church.  We  can  see  rea- 
sonable motives  for  such  a  command,  viz.,  as  a  test  of  our  sincerity 
and  obedience,  and  as  the  means  of  bringing  us  more  effectually  into 
brotherhood  with  one  another,  and  to  the  orderly  reception  of  truth 
and  grace  from  God.  Such  a  disposition  of  Divine  Providence  must 
be  both  useful  to  us  and  an  "act  of  great  mercy."  If  God  has  so 
arranged,  it  is  not  for  us  to  exercise  our  tastes  or  our  fancies  in  the 
matter,  we  are  bound  to  obey  without  questioning.  It  is  folly  to 
suppose  that  God  could  have  made  definite  provision  for  our  guid- 
ance, and  then  that  we  should  have  liberty  to  choose  the  terms  on 
which  we  shall  serve  Him.  If  salvation  were  to  be  found  by  any 
man  out  of  the  Church  just  as  well  as  in  it,  then  the  old  prophecies 
about  the  kingdom  of  God  would  be  mere  dreams,  the  authority 
given  to  the  Church,  the  command  to  teach,  and  the  commands  laid 
on  us  to  obey,  in  fact,  half  the  New  Testament  would  be  meaning- 
less form  and  a  solemn  mockery.  If  Jesus  Christ  instituted  a 
Church  at  all,  it  follows  that,  for  those  who  have  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  it,  out  of  that  Church  there  can  be  no  salvation. 


2i8  THE  CREED. 


XXVI.    OUT  OF  THE  CHURCH  NO  SALVATION. 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REV.  JAMES  BELLORD,  D.D. 
II. 

"God  Our  Saviour,  who  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved  and  to  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth." — Tim.  ii,  4. 

SYNOPSIS. — I.  The  Catholic  Church  the  ordinary  means  of  salvation.  She 
is  universal,  indefectable,  commissioned  for  all  people,  all  times,  therefore 
no  other  Church  needed.  Yet  absolute  visible  unity  with  this  Church  not 
indispensable. 

II.  The  law  of  visible  membership  in  the  true  Church,  the  ordinary 
law.  God  has  other  laws  and  other  graces  for  extraordinary  cases.  God 
loves  all  and  Christ  died  for  all.  God  is  absolutely  just  and  therefore 
considers  all  the  circumstances.  Allowance  is  also  made  for  invincible 
ignorance.  Material  sin  is  not  formal  sin.  Goodness  of  life  indicates 
sincerity  and  brings  graces  fof  salvation*  even  to  those  not  corporally' 
united  with  the  Church.  The  Church  teaches  that  all  souls  have  the 
means  of  salvation  within  their  grasp.  She  has  condemned  the  opposite 
proposition. 

HI.  The  three  conditions,  according  to  Pere  Lacordaire,  affecting  the 
Gentiles  and  all  now  outside  of  the  true  Church  are:  (z)  Living  up  to 
the  truth  as  far  as  it  is  known.  (2)  Living  up  to  a  higher  degree  of  truth 
as  soon  as  it  is  known,  (j)  Death  in  the  love  of  God.  Sincere  rejection 
of  the  Church  through  invincible  ignorance  required  of  all  who  are  not 
members  of  the  true  Church.  But  ignorance  and  sincerity  not  as  wide- 
spread as  some  think. 

IV.  Hard  to  see  how  men  can  be  ignorant  nowadays  when  so  many 
opportunities  present  themselves  for  knowing  the  Church.  St.  Bernard 
on  this  point.  Men  are  prevented  from  seeing  the  truth  by  self-deception, 
by  selfish  reasons  of  worldly  advancement,  etc.  God's  laws  are  very  often 
broken  and  so,  too,  this  law;  for  all  such,  the  doctrine  is  true  that  outside 
of  the  Church  there  is  no  salvation. 

I.  The  Catholic  Church  is  the  ordinary  means  of  salvation  ap- 
pointed by  God  for  all  mankind.  One  such  Church  is  sufficient  for 
all  purposes.  It  is  the  authorized  teacher  of  truth,  and  is  the  one 
source  from  which  all  other  religions  have  derived  whatever  of 
Christianity  they  possess.  It  is  the  appointed  channel  of  God's 
graces  through  its  worship  and  Sacraments.  It  is  spread  abroad 
over  the  world,  illuminating  every  man  who  comes  into  this  life, 
made  known  with  more  or  less  clearness  to  most  men.  On  account 
of  its  gift  of  Catholicity,  it  does  not  need  to  be  supplemented  by 
other  religions  adapted  to  varieties  of  time  or  of  nationality.  On 


OUT  OF  THE  CHURCH  NO  SALVATION.  219 

account  of  its  indefectibility  it  can  never  need  to  be  reformed  from 
outside,  or  replaced  by  another  religion  as  time  goes  on.  The 
Catholic  Church  alone  was  commissioned  to  preach  the  Gospel  to 
every  creature.  To  her  alone  Christ  said:  "He  that  heareth  you 
heareth  me"  (Luke  x,  16).  To  her  alone  did  He  promise  the  con- 
tinual guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  His  own  abiding  presence. 
No  subsequent  revelation  has  recalled  that  divine  commission.  It  is 
therefore  one  of  the  first  and  most  essential  preliminaries  of  salva- 
tion, that  every  man  who  has  learned  of  such  a  Church  should  seek 
it  out  indefatigably ;  and  that,  when  he  has  discovered  it,  he  should 
embrace  it,  whatever  sacrifices  that  course  may  involve.  Every 
one  should  remember  that  the  Church  of  Christ  is  not  a  merely 
voluntary  association  for  persons  of  similar  views  or  of  the  same 
nationality,  formed  for  the  convenience  of  praying  in  common  and 
sharing  the  expenses  of  worship ;  but  it  is  the  one,  indivisible  Ark  of 
Salvation  appointed  by  God  and  necessary  for  all  mankind. 

Now  when  we  look  forth  over  all  the  races  of  men  on  earth,  a 
difficulty  spontaneously  rises.  There  are  and  have  been  in  every 
age  many  millions  of  men  who  can  never  have  had  any  knowledge 
of  the  Catholic  Church.  It  was  not  known  throughout  Judea  imme- 
diately on  Our  Lord's  Ascension ;  it  was  not  carried  throughout  the 
world  by  the  Apostles  for  many  years ;  even  now  there  are  doubtless 
vast  numbers  to  whom  it  has  never  been  preached.  There  are  many 
to  whom  the  Catholic  Church  has  been  so  represented  by  designing 
men  that  they  are  full  of  inevitable  prejudice  against  it,  and  hate  it 
as  being  the  synagogue  of  Satan.  Can  they  be  blamed  for  their 
condition  and  held  responsible  for  it  by  God?  Out  of  all  those 
multitudes  there  are  some  who  are  acquainted  with  the  chief  doc- 
trines and  laws  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  who  observe  them 
carefully,  and  many  who  have  received  the  Catholic  Sacrament  of 
Baptism,  although  not  from  Catholic  hands.  There  are  some  who 
know  only  of  the  existence  of  God,  the  future  life,  and  the  primary 
laws  of  morality,  and  who  observe  with  most  admirable  constancy 
such  precepts  as  their  imperfect  religion  lays  upon  them.  If  some  of 
them  are  in  bad  faith,  some  at  any  rate  know  no  better,  and  do  their 
best  according  to  their  lights.  What  is  their  fate?  Are  they  fore- 
ordained to  eternal  loss?  Are  they  absolutely  without  the  means  of 
escaping  it,  because,  through  no  fault,  they  are  outside  the  visible 
unity  of  the  Catholic  Church  ?  Many  uninstructed  Christians  outside 
the  Church,  pressed  by  this  difficulty,  have  thought  that  the  unity 


220  THE  CREED. 

of  the  Church  and  the  necessity  of  membership  in  it  were  incon- 
sistent with  the  doctrine  that  salvation  is  possible  for  all  men. 
They  have  therefore  rejected  the  unity  of  the  Church,  and  have 
tried  to  comfort  themselves  by  thinking  that  one  religion  is  as 
good  as  another,  that  no  one  religion  is  necessary,  that  salvation 
depends  on  each  man's  private  goodness  of  life,  and  not  on  his 
belief  or  his  form  of  religion.  But  there  is  no  need  in  this  rejection 
of  one  essential  part  of  Christianity,  it  is  possible  for  every  individual 
soul  to  be  saved  even  though  the  Catholic  be  the  only  one  Church 
of  Christ.  The  maxim  "Out  of  the  Church  no  salvation"  does  cer- 
tainly not  mean  that  every  one  outside  its  visible  unity  must  of 
necessity  be  excluded  from  heaven. 

II.  i.  We  must  first  recall  what  has  been  already  remarked:  that 
the  law  is  for  ordinary  cases,  for  those  to  whom  it  has  been  pro- 
mulgated, and  it  does  not  touch  exceptional  cases,  whether  they  be 
many  or  few.  Visible  incorporation  in  the  Church  is  only  the 
ordinary  means  of  salvation.  There  are  exceptional  means  for 
exceptional  cases.  There  are  two  great  classes  of  men,  those  who 
have  knowledge  of  the  Church,  and  those  who  are  in  invincible 
ignorance.  Union  with  the  Church  is  the  strict  command  laid  on  one 
set ;  but  God  in  His  goodness  has  extraordinary  means  of  salvation 
for  those  to  whom  He  has  not  communicated  His  ordinary  com- 
mands. Outside  the  ordinary  dispensation  of  grace,  there  are  un- 
covenanted  mercies,  which  have  not  been  specified  and  laid  down 
and  reduced  to  system,  because  they  do  not  concern  those  who  are 
called  under  the  ordinary  system.  The  fullness  of  knowledge  is  not 
for  us.  Like  as  with  the  Apostles  we  have  no  right  to  ask,  "Are 
they  many  that  shall  be  saved  ?"  The  answer  to  us  as  to  them  is  that 
we  must  attend  to  ourselves  only,  for  our  difficulties  are  great 
enough  to  absorb  our  entire  energies.  It  is  enough  for  us  to  know 
that  God  is  good  and  wise,  and  that  the  souls  of  those  outside  the 
ordinary  covenant  are  safe  in  His  merciful  hands.  The  investiga- 
tion of  nature  shows  us  every  day  new  marvels  of  the  power  and 
wisdom  of  God  in  the  physical  world.  We  may  well  believe  that 
in  the  world  of  souls  there  is  a  similar  variety  of  methods,  richness 
of  resource,  and  wonderful  ingenuity  of  grace  in  bringing  about 
salvation.  The  ordinary  paths  of  Providence  are  all  that  we  know, 
and  those  most  imperfectly;  yet  we  have  seen  enough  of  the  extra- 
ordinary miracles  of  patience  and  love  shown  to  those  who  have 
profaned  God's  most  sacred  gifts,  to  be  assured  that  patience  and 


OUT  OF  THE  CHURCH  NO  SALVATION. 


221 


love  will  not'  be  withheld  from  those  others,  God's  less  favored, 
and  perhaps  less  guilty  children. 

2.  Next  we  may  recall  that  most  certain  of  all  certainties,  that 
God  is  good  and  gracious  to  all  in  an  infinite  degree.    All  men  are 
His  creatures,  all  are  in  His  image  and  likeness,  all  are  the  object 
of  His  love.    Our  Lord  died  for  them  all  without  exception.    With 
God  there  is  no  respect  of  persons,  there  is  no  difference  of  Jew 
or    Gentile,  bond  or  free,  civilized  or  barbarian.     He  has  placed 
each  where  He  will  have  him  for  the  working  out  of  His  merciful 
purposes,  and  He  has  equally  care  and  love  for  them  all.    Of  old, 
certain  narrow-minded  persons  maintained  that  Our  Lord  had  died 
only  for  the  redemption  and  salvation  of  the  elect.     St.  Augustine 
refuted  this  heresy  and  the  Church  condemned  it.     "Thou  lovest 
all  things  that  are,  and  hatest  none  of  the  things  which  thou  hast 
made ;  for  thou  didst  not  appoint,  or  make  anything  hating  it.     ... 
But  thou  sparest  all:  because  they  are  thine,  O  Lord,  who  lovest 
souls"  (Wisd.  xi,  25,  27). 

3.  And  further  we  know  that  God  is  infinitely  just.    He  renders 
to  every  man  according  to  his  works,  except  that  His  mercy  mod- 
erates the  vigor  of  strict  justice.    It  is  blasphemy  to  think  that  God 
could  show  undue  severity  or  harshness  to  any  man;  and  still  less 
that  he  could  punish  any  one  for  what  is  not  his  own  fault,  for 
the  dispositions  that  He  Himself  has  made  concerning  any  man. 
Justice,  no  less  than  mercy,  must  take  account  of  all  extenuating 
circumstances  in  each  offence,  of  the  inherited  weakness,  the  pre- 
disposition  of   the   character  to   certain   failings,   the   involuntary 
ignorance,  the  want  of  opportunities,  the  compensation  made  by 
suffering  or  by  certain  acts  of  virtue. 

4.  Catholic  theology,  again,  lays  great  stress  on  the  excusing 
power  of  invincible  ignorance.     There  are  great  classes  of  deadly 
sins,  such  as  heresy,  disbelief,  schism  from  the  Church,  hatred  and 
opposition  to  her — sins,  any  one  of  which  is  sufficient  to  cut  the 
soul  off  from  God  forever;  and  yet  they  are  cloaked  away  out  of 
sight,  or  rather,  are  extinguished  as  sins  by  the  covering  of  invin- 
cible ignorance.    For  such  there  is  no  responsibility  and  no  penalty. 
The  Church  has  declared  that  negative  infidelity  is  no  sin ;  and  it 
is  the  same  with  those  who  are  in  heresy  and  outside  the  Catholic 
Church.     In  cases  where  that  state  is  simply  negative,  where  there 
is  no  positive  influx  of  the  will  proceeding  on  full  knowledge  toward 
the  rejection  of  truth,  there  is  no  sin.     A  man's  belief  may  be 


THE  CREED. 

heresy,  but  he  is  not  of  necessity  guilty  of  the  sin  of  heresy.  A  creed 
which '  includes  false  doctrines  or  rejects  true  ones  is  heresy- 
objective  heresy— material  heresy.  But  formal  heresy,  that  which 
constitutes  the  sin,  consists  in  the  obstinate  adherence  to  that  which 
has  been  sufficiently  shown  to  be  heresy.  Where  there  is  in- 
vincible ignorance,  the  adherence  to  material  heresy  is  not  an  act 
of  formal  heresy.  Salvien,  a  Catholic  writer  of  the  fifth  century, 
speaks  of  such  heretics :  "They  are  heretics,  but  not  knowingly.  The 
truth  is  really  with  us,  but  they  think  it  is  with  them.  They  are  in 
error,  but  their  intentions  are  good.  How  will  they  be  judged  at  the 
last  day?  That  is  for  the  Judge  to  know."  Thus  even  in  days 
when  the  general  feeling  about  heresy  was  much  more  acute  than 
in  those  lukewarm  days,  when  heretics  were  generally  very  different 
men  from  those  who  profess  heretical  doctrines  in  our  age,  full 
allowance  was  made  for  invincible  ignorance  and  good  intentions; 
and  the  possibility,  in  consequence,  of  salvation  for  those  visibly 
outside  the  Church  was  recognized. 

5.  We  may  take  account  too  of  the  good  life  and  virtue  of  those 
who  are  outside  the  Church.    There  are  many  who  are  models  of 
regularity,  piety,  charity,  uprightness,  and  courage.     All  this  is,  of 
course,  no  substitute  for  faith,  for  union  with  the  Church ;  still  less 
will  it  do  instead  of  sincerity.     It  is  not  possible  to  dispense  with 
the  essential  conditions  of  salvation;  we  can  not  make  a  compro- 
mise with  God  and  offer  Him  love  instead  of  honesty,  veracity  in- 
stead of  chastity,  good  works  instead  of  true  belief,  or  the  natural 
instead  of  the  supernatural.     But  all  goodness  meets  with  its  due 
reward  from  God.     Correspondence  with  one  class  of  graces  will 
be  the  means  of  meriting  another  kind.    An  act  of  benevolence  may 
move  God  to  unveil  the  light  of  truth  or  grant  strength  to  make 
some  necessary  sacrifice,  or  it  may  lead  to  full  conversion  at  the 
hour  of  death.     Goodness  of  life,  if  it  is  consistent  in  its  various 
forms,  if  it  is  deeply  rooted  in  the  life  and  not  a  merely  superficial 
growth,  testifies  to  sincerity,  and  gives  us  grounds   for  judging 
leniently  and  hoping  well. 

6.  The  Church,  therefore,  teaches  us  that  all  men  without  excep- 
tion have  the  means  of  salvation  in  their  hands,  that  they  receive 
grace  from  God  and  can  serve  Him  and  please  Him.     This  is  in- 
volved in  the  condemnation  of  the  two  propositions,  that  "all  the 
acts  of  infidels  are  sins,"  and  that  "no  grace  is  given  to  those  outside 
the  Church."    Hence  any  departed  soul,  however  far  it  may  have 


OUT  OF  THE  CHURCH  NO  SALVATION. 


223 


been  from  visible  union  with  the  Church,  may  for  all  we  know  be 
saved;  therefore  the  Church  will  not  allow  us  to  judge  of  any  indi- 
vidual human  soul  that  it  is  lost,  with  the  exception  of  Judas  alone ; 
therefore  she  allows  us  to  pray  in  private  and  offer  the  sacrifice  of 
the  Mass  for  the  souls  of  each  and  all  of  the  dead,  and  to  hope  for 
any  one's  salvation. 

III.  One  of  the  great  champions  of  religion  in  these  latter  times, 
Father  Lacordaire,  the  reviver  of  the  religious  orders  in  France,  has 
a  conference  on  the  means  of  instruction  and  salvation  possessed  by 
mankind  before  the  coming  of  Our  Blessed  Lord.  What  he  says 
applies  equally  to  those  of  the  present  day  who  are  outside  the 
Church,  and  of  whom  man^  are  in  precisely  the  same  position  as 
the  Gentiles  of  the  earlier  times.  After  showing  how  each  of  the 
principal  systems  of  error  contained  enough  truth  at  least  to  lead 
men  to  investigation  and  further  enlightenment,  he  concludes  by 
specifying  three  conditions  as  necessary,  in  such  cases,  for  salvation. 

1.  "Men  must  practise  the  truth  in  the  degree  in  which  it  is  known 
to  them."    Some  degree  of  truth  has  reached  all  mankind  from  God, 
either  through  ancestral  tradition,  or  through  their  conscience,  or, 
perhaps,    imbedded   among    falsehoods   and   superstitions   in   their 
sectarian  creed.    Their  responsibility  is  limited  by  that  degree  of 
truth.    They  can  not  go  beyond  it.     If  they  are  faithful  to  it,  they 
have  accomplished  all  that  God  demands  of  them,  they  have  "fulfilled 
all  justice."    If  that  degree  of  knowledge  should  be  insufficient  for 
the  supernatural  life,  God  will  certainly  reward  their  fidelity  to  it, 
as  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  teaches,  by  some  exceptional  communication 
of  the  further  truths  needful  for  their  salvation. 

2.  "Men  must  embrace  and  practise  a  higher  degree  of  truth  than 
they  are  born  in,  as  soon  as  it  shall  come  to  their  knowledge."   "If 
he  corresponds  to  the  light  which  he  knows,  he  will  be  led  to  the 
further  light  as  yet  unknown ;"  according  to  the  word  of  St.  John : 
"He  that  doth  the  truth  cometh  to  the  light"  (John  iii,  21).    Life  is 
a  progress.    This  is  the  great  law  and  duty  of  existence.    To  every 
man  it  is  said  at  some  time:  "Friend,  come  up  higher."     He  is 
gradually  educated  and  prepared  by  increasing  grace  on  God's  part 
and  increasing  effort  on  his  own,  for  the  future  reward.    Eternal  life, 
while  gratuitous,  is  also  a  reward  for  work  and  progress  achieved; 
to  every  soul  therefore  is  given  the  call  and  the  opportunity  of 
making  that  progress. 

3.  "The  last  condition  is  to  die  loving  God  above  all  things,  for 


224  THE  CREED. 

such  is  the  aim  of  Christianity."  According  to  the  Apostle:  "Love 
is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law"  (Rom.  xiii,  10).  If  the  true  love  of 
God  be  present  it  supplies  all  deficiencies ;  for  it  includes  the  desire 
to  do  all  God's  will,  to  repent  of  sin,  to  receive  Baptism,  to  be 
united  with  Jesus  Christ  in  such  way  as  He  has  appointed,  viz., 
through  the  Church.  To  this  love  any  one  will  attain  who  has 
been  faithful  to  the  gradually  advancing  graces  which  God  has  be- 
stowed on  him. 

Thus,  according  to  the  saintly  Dominican,  salvation  is  within  the 
grasp  of  all  men,  in  whatever  condition  of  heresy,  infidelity,  or 
paganism  they  may  have  found  themselves  placed.  By  conforming 
themselves  to  the  conditions  mentioned,  they  fulfil  what  God  demands 
of  them,  and  they  will  find  themselves  in  many  instances  led  to  the 
ordinary  means  of  salvation,  i.  e.,  to  visible  union  with  the  Catholic 
Church.  But  if  that  ordinary  means  has  been  closed  to  them  by 
no  fault  of  their  own,  if  no  honest  effort  on  their  part  has  been 
wanting,  if  the  fullness  of  light  and  grace  has  been  withheld  from 
them  by  God's  providence,  then  they  are  exceptional  cases,  "those, 
having  not  the  law  are  a  law  to  themselves;  who  show  the  work 
of  the  law  written  in  their  hearts"  (Rom.  ii,  14,  15)  ;  they  are  not 
judged  according  to  the  ordinary  standard,  their  salvation  is  to  be 
worked  out  in  ways  that  are  the  secret  of  God. 

From  these  various  considerations  we  learn  that,  with  regard  to 
membership  in  the  Church  as  one  of  the  conditions  of  salvation, 
there  are  two  alternatives,  viz.,  to  actual  visible  communion  with 
the  Church,  or,  on  the  other  hand,  the  completest  sincerity  in 
rejecting  it.  The  one  is  the  appointed  means  of  salvation,  the  other 
is  the  only  excuse  from  observing  it.  The  efficacy  of  this  sincerity  in 
dispensing  men  depends  on  the  degree  and  the  nature  of  their  ignor- 
ance of  the  Catholic  Church.  An  ignorance  that  is  impenetrable 
and  invincible  by  all  their  efforts  is  required,  in  order  that  a  man's 
sincerity  in  rejecting  the  Church  be  absolute  and  excusable.  Thus, 
in  examining  the  law,  "Out  of  the  Church  no  salvation,"  we  meet 
with  certain  considerations  that  widen  our  hopes  as  to  those  out- 
side her  communion,  and  now  we  meet  with  others  which  narrow 
those  hopes  again.  When  we  come  to  reflect  on  the  abundant 
means  of  knowledge,  the  rigid  observance  that  is  due  to  God's  com- 
mands, and  the  perversity  of  mankind,  we  have  reason  to  fear  that 
invincible  ignorance,  and  sincerity  consequently,  are  not  so  preva- 
lent as  we  should  wish.  We  can  not  in  general  have  good  hopes 


OUT  OF  THE  CHURCH  NO  SALVATION.  225 

for  the  salvation  of  those  outside  the  Church.  Still  we  have  no 
criterion  for  judging  about  individuals  nor  about  the  numbers  of  the 
saved  and  lost.  We  have  no  knowledge  of  the  varying  circum- 
stances of  so  many  men ;  even  if  we  could  read  their  minds,  still  we 
can  not  speculate  as  to  the  secret  operations  of  grace  in  their  souls 
during  their  last  moment.  We  must  judge  harshly  of  none,  and 
while  we  have  grave  fears  we  can  lawfully  indulge  in  hopes  for 
each  individual's  future  welfare. 

IV.  However  broadly  we  may,  in  our  charity,  interpret  the  for- 
mula "Out  of  the  Church  no  salvation,"  the  truth  remains  that, 
"Narrow  is  the  gate  and  straight  is  the  way  that  leadeth  to  life; 
and  few  there  are  that  find  it"  (Matt,  vii,  14).  It  is  not  easy  to  see 
how  those  who  live  in  the  modern  world  of  civilization  can  remain 
in  absolute  ignorance  of  the  Church.  The  light  of  Christ  "enlight- 
eneth  every  man  that  cometh  into  this  world"  (John  i,  9)  ;  and  of 
Our  Lord's  messengers  it  is  written,  "Verily,  their  sound  hath  gone 
forth  into  all  the  earth,  and  their  words  unto  the  ends  of  the  whole 
world"  (Rom.  x,  18).  It  is  natural  to  think  that  God  would  call 
to  the  ordinary  path  of  salvation  all  those  who  are  within  reach  of  it, 
and  not  leave  such  large  multitudes  to  be  dealt  with  as  exceptions. 
When  we  see  what  means  of  information  men  now  have,  through 
conversation,  reading,  observation,  when  we  remember  the  wide 
range  of  men's  thoughts,  and  the  universal  communication  of  them, 
and  the  general  attention  which  the  Catholic  Church  attracts,  it  is 
impossible  to  think  that  there  can  be  many  men  who  have  not  at 
least  suspected  her  divine  authority,  and  been  moved  to  further  inves- 
tigation. Internal  grace  always  accompanies  the  outward  oppor- 
tunity, and  it  is  certain  that  it  must  lead  conscientious  inquirers  to 
full  belief  in  the  Church.  It  is  probably  true  in  our  days  as  it  was 
in  St.  Bernard's,  that  it  is  more  difficult  t'o  escape  from  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth  than  to  attain  it. 

There  is  abundant  reason  for  believing  that  great  numbers,  the 
majority  perhaps,  of  those  to  whom  an  unwelcome  truth  is  revealed, 
will  refuse  to  accept  it  and  prefer  falsehood.  It  is  easy  to  do  this. 
God  speaks  first  in  a  whisper,  which  can  be  stifled  and  disregarded ; 
He  does  not  crush  the  mind  with  evidence,  but  employs  such  as 
can  be  set  aside  if  the  will  is  obstinate.  It  is  generally  more  profit- 
able in  a  material  sense  to  be  outside  the  Church  than  in  it,  and  to 
be  on  the  side  of  Sat'an  and  the  world  rather  than  on  the  side  of 
Christ.  This  consideration  outweighs  in  many  minds  all  present 


226  THE  CREED. 

truth  and  all  future  reward.  The  rejection  of  truth  is  a  secret 
crime,  it  brings  no  disgrace  before  mankind,  no  loss  in  this  world; 
it  does  not  prevent  a  man  from  claiming  and  receiving  the  credit 
of  uprightness  and  sincerity.  It  is  not  difficult  for  a  man  to  be 
thoroughly  dishonest  and  to  persuade  himself  that  he  is  sincere. 
Our  capacity  for  self-deception  is  exceedingly  great.  And  when 
our  interests,  our  fears,  our  habits,  the  persuasion  of  others,  all 
combine  against  the  right,  it  is  easy  to  make  ourselves  believe  that 
the  worse  is  the  better  reason.  If  it  is  easy  for  us  to  be  insincere 
even  in  our  adhesion  to  truth  and  goodness  much  more  likely  are 
we  to  overlook  our  insincerity  in  adhering  to  a  profitable  falsehood. 
Sincerity  is  too  difficult  a  virtue  to  be  very  prevalent;  and  the 
inducement's  to  the  contrary  are  strong.  Resisting  the  truth  was 
common  among  those  to  whom  Our  Lord  preached,  and  it  is  not 
likely  to  be  less  common  when  He  speaks,  no  longer  in  His  own 
person,  but  through  the  mouth  of  His  Church.  As  of  Our  Lord's 
times,  so  of  these:  "Light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  loved 
darkness  rather  than  the  light,  for  their  works  were  evil.  For 
every  one  that  doth  evil  hateth  the  light  and  cometh  not  to  the  light" 
(John  iii,  19,  20). 

Much  of  the  ignorance  about  the  Church  among  men  is  the  result 
of  moral  transgressions  which  make  the  soul  incapable  of  seeing 
the  truth.  A  great  deal  that  claims  to  be  sincere  ignorance  is 
sheer  hatred  of  the  truth.  Many  know  the  truth  and  will  not  ac- 
knowledge it.  Very  many  more  have  received  some  inkling  of  the 
truth ;  some  of  them  yield  to  negligence  and  allow  themselves  to  be 
occupied  by  less  important  things;  others  shrink  from  a  fuller 
knowledge  because  they  know  they  will  be  convinced;  and  they 
vainly  suppose  that  a  deliberately  chosen  ignorance  will  shield  them 
from  the  responsibility  of  disobeying  the  voice  of  God.  There  must 
be  a  great  deal  of  this  kind  of  sin  in  the  world.  When  we  consider 
the  violations  of  all  the  other  laws  of  God,  of  honesty,  charity, 
truth,  chastity,  whenever  there  is  the  prospect  of  some  gain  or  plea- 
sure and  the  chance  of  impunity,  we  may  be  sure  that  the  command 
to  join  the  one  Church  of  Christ  will  be  much  more  widely  violated, 
as  the  inducements  to  do  so  are  so  much  greater.  As  with  all  other 
laws,  so  with  the  one  we  are  considering;  it  is  disobeyed,  not  so 
much  because  men  are  ignorant  of  it,  as  because  they  do  not  wish 
to  recognize  it.  Under  such  circumstances  men  will  be  ready  to 
grasp  at  any  bad  reason  that  seems  to  justify  their  determination. 


OUT  OF  THE  CHURCH  NO  SALVATION.  227 

Hence  it  is  that  we  hear  such  unscriptural  and  unreasonable  phrases 
as:  "One  religion  is  as  good  as  another:"  "A  man  will  be  judged 
for  his  life  and  not  for  his  belief ;"  "Doctrines  are  but  opinions,  and 
God  will  damn  no  man  for  his  opinions."  All  such  statements  are 
worth  nothing  as  a  justification  for  rejecting  the  Catholic  Church, 
unless  they  are  spoken  in  the  most  complete  sincerity.  But  we  can 
hardly  think  that  they  are  so.  They  are  not  sound  reasons  for  re- 
jecting the  Church,  but  rather  excuses  adopted  in  many  cases  to 
salve  the  conscience,  to  save  the  trouble  of  inquiry,  to  deceive  one- 
self and  others,  and  to  make  insincerity  look  like  sincerity.  We 
have  reason  to  fear  that  among  the  bulk  of  non-Catholics  there  are 
many  cases  of  ignorance  which  are  false,  imperfect,  or  feigned,  many 
cases  to  which  the  phrase  we  are  considering  will  apply  in  their 
narrowest  sense;  outside  the  visible  union  of  the  Catholic  Church 
there  is  for  them  no  salvation.  Such  hopes  as  we  entertain  for  them 
must  be  based,  not  so  much  on  belief  in  the  possibility  of  their 
invincible  ignorance,  as  on  the  wish  that  their  knowledge  may  lead 
them  when  on  the  verge  of  death  to  recognize  and  enter  the  one 
Ark  of  Salvation. 


228  THE  CREED. 


XXVII.    IS  THE  CHURCH  INTOLERANT? 

BY  THE  REV.  P.  A.  HALPIN. 

SYNOPSIS. — The  very  term  intolerance  is  a  menace. 

I.  Tolerance  is  not  absolutely  justifiable.    Religious  and  civil  intoler- 
ance.   Religious  intolerance  must  be  upheld.    The  religious  intolerance  of 
the  Church  is  her  duty  and  her  glory. 

II.  What  is  the  history  of  Catholic  intolerance?    It  is  a  calumny.    It 
is  misrepresentation.    The  spirit  of  the  Church  must  be  the  spirit  of  its 
Founder. 

There  are  very  few  words  which  have  a  more  disagreeable  mean- 
ing for  the  twentieth  century  ear  than  the  expression  "intolerant" 
which  conveys  the  leading  idea  of  the  question  which  it  is  the  pur- 
pose of  this  instruction  to  answer.  The  reason  of  the  repugnance 
felt  by  our  age  for  this  term  is  because  liberty,  fraternity,  equality, 
are  the  watchwords  now  as  they  were  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
and  during  the  whole  nineteenth  century.  We  are  told  that  intol- 
erance is  not  compatible  with  "liberty,"  that'  it  disrupts  "fraternity" 
and  is  a  mortal  foe  to  "equality."  They  tell  us  that  the  institution 
of  which  intolerance  is  predicated  is  an  institution  which  is  out  of 
place  in  these  times,  and  must  be  warred  against  by  all  those  who 
feel  it  their  duty  to  maintain  the  advanced  civilization  of  to-day,  of 
all  those  who  take  pride  in  upholding  the  spirit  of  the  era,  of  all 
those  who  profess  that  the  struggle  of  the  period  is  a  struggle  for 
absolute  emancipation  from  everything  that  savors  of  dependence  or 
servility  in  any  field  whether  of  action  or  thought,  whether  of  pol- 
itics, literature,  or  science.  Intolerance,  they  say,  is  a  monster 
which  must  be  destroyed.  Intolerance  is  a  tyrant  which  must  be 
deposed.  Intolerance  is  a  bugbear  which  must  disappear,  other- 
wise the  progress  of  man  will  be  delayed,  will  be  not  only  postponed 
but  prevented  and  aborted  absolutely.  Intolerance  is  unwillingness 
to  tolerate  opinions  or  beliefs  contrary  to  their  own.  It  is  bigotry. 
It  is  fanaticism.  The  wildest  denunciations  have  been  poured  out 
against  intolerance.  My  beloved  brethren,  you  will  not  be  surprised 
when  I  say  that  all  this  eloquence  of  vituperation  has  been  launched 
against  your  Church,  the  Catholic  Church,  the  Church  of  God. 

Books  are  published  everywhere,  in  every  tongue,  by  gifted,  by 


7S  THE  CHURCH  INTOLERANT  ?  229 

mediocre,  by  very  mediocre  individuals,  which  are  nothing  more 
than  diatribes  against  your  holy  religion.  All  their  attacks  may  be 
summed  up  in  this  one  accusation,  that  the  Church  is  an  uncom- 
promising one,  that  there  is  no  spirit  of  conciliation  energizing  in 
its  head,  its  hierarchy  or  its  members,  that  it  is  despotic  and  unrea- 
soning and  that  therefore  it  is  not  divine,  it  is  not  the  Church  of 
Christ,  but  a  travesty  thereof,  and  a  force  which  must  be  anni- 
hilated, for  otherwise  all  tolerance,  all  religion,  all  charity  will  be 
banished  from  the  abodes  and  from  the  souls  of  men.  You  have 
heard  all  this  and  you  ask,  and  you  have  the  right  to  ask:  Is  the 
Church  intolerant?  Is  the  whole  world  outside  the  Church  tol- 
erant? Are  Catholics  alone  by  the  doctrines  of  their  faith  and 
the  commands  of  their  rulers  compelled  to  be  uncompromising, 
fanatical,  bigoted  and  to  repudiate  all  who  are  not  of  their  way  of 
thinking  or  of  acting.  To  give  you  an  answer  let  us  explain  (a) 
what  toleration  is,  (b)  what  intolerance  is,  (c)  and  what  is  the 
history  of  the  Church  as  an  agent  tolerant  or  intolerant  in  the 
afairs  of  mankind. 

I.  The  question  is  religious  intolerance.  Suppose  we  affirm  some 
maxims  which  in  this  connection  are  generally  conceded  by  all  right 
reasoning  minds.  A  religion  may  be  viewed  in  its  relations  to  God, 
as  a  means  of  honoring  Him,  and  of  leading  men  to  eternal  happi- 
ness. This  would  seem  to  be  the  end  of  any  institution  which 
claims  to  be  heaven  born.  Or  it  may — this  religion — be  considered 
in  its  bearing  upon  civil  society  whose  interests — we  use  interests  in 
a  general  sense — it  may  favor  or  contradict.  A  religion  whose 
dogmas,  whose  practising  would  be  in  opposition  to  man's  nature, 
his  sentiments  and  his  needs,  a  religion  which  would  contradict  the 
evident  attributes  and  the  sufficiently  manifest  designs  of  the  Creator 
could  hardly  be  looked  upon  as  a  religion  conducive  to  God's  honor 
or  man's  salvation.  Such  a  profession  would  be  condemned  by  God 
and  the  adherents  of  it  would  be  reproved  and  pitied  by  every  en- 
lightened man.  Moreover,  a  ruler  could  not  in  conscience  tolerate 
within  his  states  a  belief  whose  tenets  and  spirit  would  be  subver- 
sive of  the  principles  of  social  morality,  and  governmental  authority. 
Hence  we  must  recognize  two  kinds  of  intolerance.  There  is  reli- 
gious intolerance  which  rejects  as  unapproved  of  by  God  every 
religion  which  possesses  not  the  characteristics  of  truth.  There  is 
civil  intolerance  which  proscribes  the  profession  of  every  teaching 
and  of  every  worship  which  antagonizes  the  welfare  of  society. 


230  THE  CREED. 

Religious  intolerance  regards  professions  in  their  bearing  upon  the 
future  life,  civil  in  their  connection  with  the  present  life.  The 
theologian  examines  a  religion  as  to  whether  it  is  true  or  false, 
whether  it  comes  from  God  or  from  men ;  the  sovereign,  the  states- 
man to  discover  whether  it  makes  or  does  not  make  for  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Commonwealth.  I  say  the  interests,  not  the  laws  of 
society.  For  the  true  religion  must  always  harmonize  with  the 
welfare  of  peoples,  but  it  may  find  itself  not  in  accordance  with 
particular  regulations,  in  which  case  it  is  logical  to  conclude  that 
religion  is  not  to  be  rejected,  but  the  laws  must  be  reformed.  These 
two  conditions  have  not  always  been  sufficiently  distinguished,  yet 
they  should  be. 

What  have  we  to  say  of  religious  intolerance,  understanding  it  as 
it  should  be  understood  ?  Certainly  we  must  execrate  that  universal 
toleration  which  allows  that  all  religions  are  equally  good,  or  equally 
useless  or  harmless.  The  solution  of  this  question  depends  entirely 
on  our  properly  understanding  the  limits  of  ecclesiastical  authority 
as  well  as  the  obligations  which  are  imposed  upon  it  by  its  position, 
or  rather  by  its  heaven  descended  mission  of  guardian  of  the  spiritual 
welfare  of  the  world.  That  the  Church  in  this  view  must  safeguard 
the  minds  of  her  children  goes  without  saying.  Error  touching 
matters  of  faith  she  must  sedulously,  zealously  and  uninterruptedly 
condemn.  This  is  apparent  from  the  very  nature  of  religious  truth. 
Religious  truth  is  not  speculative  only,  it  is  besides  eminently  prac- 
tical. Its  object  is  not  merely  to  teach  men  what  they  should  know 
but  just  as  specifically  to  teach  them  what  to  do.  Every  truth  has  a 
practical  corollary  for  conduct.  The  man  who  believes  that  there 
is  one  only  God  must  also  admit  that  He  alone  is  to  be  obeyed,  that 
His  commands  are  paramount,  and  that  no  voice  is  to  be  listened  to 
which  runs  counter  to  His  mandates.  The  man  who  believes  that 
there  is  only  one  means  of  salvation  must  adopt  that  means  and 
no  other.  The  man  whose  faith  tells  him  that  there  is  only  one  road 
to  heaven  must  put  his  feet  on  that  road. 

These  illustrations  have  been  used  to  show  that  belief  is  not 
theoretical  merely,  but  reaches  down  to  the  deliberate  thoughts, 
words,  and  deeds  of  every  individual.  His  teacher  and  his  guide 
is  his  Church,  and  upon  that'  Church  devolves  not  only  the  duty 
of  pointing  out  for  him  the  road,  not  only  the  duty  of  providing  him 
with  all  the  helps  necessary  for  this  spiritual  journey,  but  upon 
that  church  rests  the  obligation  to  patrol  that  road  and  sweep  it 


IS  THE  CHURCH  INTOLERANT?  231 

clear  of  all  obstacles,  to  eliminate  if  possible,  or,  if  impossible,  to 
minimize  the  dangers,  and  above  all  to  keep  the  signals  bright  so  that 
not  for  a  single  instant  shall  shadows  or  darkness  lie  upon  it.  Such 
a  mission  supposes  that  the  vigilance  must  be  active,  alert,  eternal. 
Everybody  will  concede  that  such  a  church  must  be  unchecked,  un- 
trammeled,  that  such  a  church  must  have  the  right  of  way  in  her 
own  sphere,  that  within  her  legitimate  zone  she  possesses  the  privi- 
lege as  well  as  the  obligation  of  crying  halt  to  all  obtrusion  and 
intrusion,  and  of  saying  so  far  and  no  further.  Within  these  limits 
she  can  not  be  tolerant.  In  these  cases  intolerance  should  surround 
her  like  an  atmosphere.  Along  these  lines  intolerance  becomes  a 
sacred  prerogative.  Along  these  lines  tolerance  becomes  a  crime. 
So  much  has  been  said  against  the  Church  because  through  all  the 
years  she  has  been  so  uncompromising  where  there  has  been  ques- 
tion of  the  purity  of  her  doctrine,  or  the  integrity  of  her  practice. 
The  air  has  been  made  vocal  with  clamors  against  her  so-called 
stubborn,  unbending  attitude.  She  is  the  mother  of  her  children 
and  her  watchfulness  has  never  slept.  Like  the  mother  who  will 
interpose  her  own  body  between  her  offspring  and  the  wild  beast 
who  threatens  its  destruction,  the  Church  has  never  faltered  in 
presence  of  any  sacrifice  entailed  upon  her  in  the  discharge  of  her 
functions  as  the  provider  of  sane  nutriment  for  the  minds  of  every 
member  of  her  fold.  She  has  been  fearless  in  opposing  every  enemy 
of  the  faith  and  there  never  has  been  in  all  history  such  an 
undaunted  champion  of  the  rights  of  those  entrusted  to  her  care. 
They  have  tended  her  as  intolerant  when  she  was  only  faithful, 
they  have  stigmatized  her  as  relentless  when  she  was  only  true  to 
the  sacredness  of  her  charge.  Because  she  condemned  the  book, 
no  matter  who  wrote  it,  the  book  which  breathed  the  venom  of  infi- 
delity, they  called  her  an  enemy  of  letters;  because  she  repudiated 
the  theory  which  was  in  germ  a  heresy,  they  styled  her  the  foe  of 
science ;  because  she  anathematized  a  principle  which  led  to  revolu- 
tion and  anarchy  they  named  her  the  antagonist  of  civilization. 
She  has  suffered  everything  in  promoting  the  spiritual,  aye,  and  the 
temporal  well  being  of  the  race.  She  has  been  a  martyr  to  her 
mission  and  her  duty.  Yet  she  is  an  intolerant,  a  bigoted,  an  un- 
compromising institution,  and  her  light  is  darkness,  and  her  zeal  is 
ambition,  and  her  love  is  cruelty,  and  she  deserves  not  a  footplace 
among  the  habitations  of  men.  When  they  cry  out  against  her 
intolerance  they  hardly  know  the  meaning  of  their  clamor.  In  one 


,32  THE  CREED. 

way  their  reproach  is  her  glory.  Yes,  she  is  intolerant,  yes,  there  are 
things  she  will  not  abide.  She  will  not  tolerate  error ;  she  will  not 
tolerate  atheism  or  infidelity,  or  any  of  the  views  which  aim  at  the 
destruction  of  all  religion,  of  all  morality,  of  all  civilization.  All  the 
truths  of  God  she  must  uphold.  All  the  sacred  rights  of  men  she 
will  declare  and  fight  for.  She  believes  in  liberty,  but  she  is  intol- 
erant of  license.  She  believes  in  fraternity  but  not  in  communism. 
She  believes  in  equality  of  all  men  before  God,  but  she  respects  the 
conditions  in  which  the  race  finds  itself.  She  will  stand  up  for  all 
rightful  possessions.  She  will  not  brook  injustice,  oppression,  or 
slavery.  Poor  and  rich  are  alike  to  her,  but  woe  to  the  capitalist 
who  defrauds  the  laborer  of  his  wages,  and  woe  also  to  the  laboring 
man  who  rises  up  in  unjust  violence  against  his  employer.  Yes, 
the  church  is  intolerant,  but  this  intolerance  is  not  a  badge  of  shame, 
but  a  crown  of  glory. 

II.  So  much  for  intolerance  in  general.  What  is  the  story  of  the 
Catholic  religion  in  this  connection  ?  We  know  how  history  has  been 
written,  we  know,  too,  how  the  history  of  our  Church  has  fared  in 
the  hands  of  her  opponents.  They,  the  boastful  advocates  of  toler- 
ance, have  had  very  little  tolerance  for  the  Church.  They  proclaim 
that  Catholic  rulers  and  princes  have  not  allowed  in  society  any 
other  religion  than  that  of  Rome.  They  assert,  moreover,  that  this 
spirit  of  persecution  was  inspired  by  the  very  nature  of  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Church,  that  the  Church  commanded  it,  that  it  was 
inseparably  connected  with  every  fundamental  Catholic  principle. 
The  Church,  they  say,  has  been  the  parent  of  modern  persecution, 
exercising  her  sway  not  only  over  the  minds  of  men,  but  over  their 
persons  and  their  possessions  as  well — in  a  word,  that  an  essential 
doctrine  of  the  Catholic  Church  is  intolerance,  religious  as  well  as 
civil. 

These  two  kinds  of  intolerance  they  urge  are  inseparable, 
that  where  we  find  one  we  find  the  other.  In  the  words  of  Rous- 
seau it  is  true  of  the  Catholic  Church  that  she  has  always  taught  the 
two  sorts  of  intolerance,  for,  says  he,  "it  is  impossible  to  live  in 
peace  with  those  whom  one  believes  to  be  damned ;  to  love  them 
would  be  to  hate  God  who  punishes  them."  This  certainly  is 
putting  the  calumny  against  us  at  its  worst.  How  are  we  to  reply? 
In  the  brief  space  allotted  us  a  comprehensive  answer  is  out  of  the 
question.  We  might  gratuitously  deny  what  has  been  so  gratui- 
tously asserted.  But  let  us  pause  for  a  rapid  if  not  complete  in- 


IS  THE  CHURCH  INTOLERANT?  233 

vestigation.  Nobody  wishes  to  deny  that  the  Church  must  anathe- 
matize everything  which  contradicts  the  truth  of  which  she  has 
been  made  the  guardian.  What  is  heretical  she  must  declare  such, 
what  is  erroneous  she  must  stigmatize  as  such,  what  is  dangerous 
in  morals  or  in  faith  she  must  proclaim  as  such.  Still  look  at  the 
marvellous  compassion  of  this  mother  of  souls.  Has  she  ever 
stated  that  any  one  of  the  children  of  men  has  been  irretrievably 
lost  because  he  was  not  a  member  of  her  flock  ?  There  is  no  salva- 
tion outside  of  the  Church,  is  one  of  her  cardinal  teachings,  yet 
how  often  she  tells  of  the  possibility  of  those  being  saved  who  are 
not  of  her  communion  yet  do  all  in  their  power  to  live  according  to 
the  dictates  of  their  conscience.  So  wide  is  her  liberality  in  this 
particular,  that  she  goes  to  the  length  of  allowing  her  doctors  to 
profess  that  if  necessary  God  in  such  a  case  will  perform  a  miracle. 
Is  this  true  of  all  the  sects  ?  Is  there  any  one  so  bigoted,  so  narrow, 
so  uncompromising  as  the  sectarian?  We  are  told  that  Catholic 
governments  have  acted  toward  non-Catholic  subject  in  a  spirit  of 
despotic  intolerance !  Be  it  so.  Has  their  action  been  one  suggested 
by  any  doctrine  of  the  Church  whose  spirit  is  the  Spirit  of  Christ, 
who  hated  sin  but  loved  the  sinner.  Do  we  know  all  the  reasons 
which  actuated  these  rulers  in  their  attitude  toward  those  who  did 
not  belong  to  the  religion  professed  by  the  State.  We  might  ask 
what  of  Protestant  rulers,  what  has  been  the  spirit  of  their  admin- 
istration? They  allege  against  us  as  a  monument  of  ecclesiastical 
intolerance  the  Inquisition.  What  a  host  of  calumnies  have  found 
shelter  under  the  wing  of  that  name.  We  simply  say  read  its  his- 
tory aright,  examine  it  to  the  very  bottom.  We  say  let  reason, 
not  imagination,  not  prejudice  make  the  investigation,  and  the  apol- 
ogists of  religion  need  have  no  fear,  nor  will  any  fair-minded  indi- 
vidual be  convinced  that  the  Church  is  deservedly  branded  as  intol- 
erant. Let  us  go  a  step  further;  let  us  suppose  that  churchmen — 
as  has  happened — have  enacted  scenes  that  fill  us  with  horror,  let 
us  grant  that  a  Pope  or  Popes  have  acted  in  a  manner  to  shock  the 
Christian  world  by  deeds  of  oppression,  cruelty,  yes,  crime.  What 
has  that  to  do  with  the  purity  and  charity  and  humanness  inculcated 
by  the  Catholic  faith?  In  that  much  they  have  not  allowed  them- 
selves to  be  influenced  by  the  gentleness  of  the  Founder  of  our  holy 
religion.  A  glance  at  the  councils  of  the  Church  will  reveal  its  true 
spirit.  These  are  the  words  of  St.  Augustine  and  their  spirit  has 
been  imbibed  by  ecclesiastical  writers  and  princes  who  came  after 


234  THE  CREED. 

him.  He  is  writing  to  a  proconsul  of  Africa  begging  him  not  to 
put  the  Donatists  to  death.  He  says :  "Great  as  may  be  the  evil  you 
wish  to  abolish  and  the  good  you  desire  to  procure,  it  is  a  task  more 
onerous  and  useless  to  use  force  than  to  enlighten  their  minds." 
This  has  always  been  the  mind  of  the  Church.  The  question  which 
is  being  studied  in  this  instruction  is  a  vast  one  on  account  of  its 
many  ramifications  and  especially  on  account  of  the  documents 
without  number  which  have  been  published  by  friends  and  adver- 
saries of  Catholic  doctrine.  The  teaching  and  the  spirit  of  the 
Church  has  always  been  manifest.  Doubtless  its  principles  have 
been  misunderstood  in  ages  of  less  enlightenment  than  ours.  Human 
passions  mingling  with  religion  and  covering  themselves  with  its 
sacred  and  sheltering  name  have  acted  with  a  zeal  altogether  false 
and  have  committed  inhuman  atrocities.  The  duty  of  the  Catholic 
is  to  distinguish  between  false  and  prudent  zeal  and  to  judge  ac- 
cordingly. In  a  word  the  duty  of  the  Catholic  is  to  remember  that 
the  spirit  of  the  Church  is  the  Spirit  of  Christ,  whose  characteristic 
attitude  toward  all  mankind  is:  "Come  to  me — because  I  am  meek 
and  humble  of  heart  and  you  shall  find  rest  to  your  souls"  (Matt. 

Xi,29). 


THE  VISIBLE  HEAD  OF  THE  CHURCH:  HIS  OFFICE.       235 


XXVIII.    THE  VISIBLE  HEAD  OF  THE  CHURCH: 
HIS  OFFICE. 

BY  THE  REV.  J.    H.   STAPLETON. 

"Behold  I  lay  in  Sion  a  chief  corner-stone,  elect  and  precious;  and  he  that 
shall  believe  in  him,  shall  not  be  confounded." — I  Peter,  ii,  6. 

SYNOPSIS. — Exordium. — Chief  corner-stone  of  the  Church,  invisible  and 
visible,  blessed  and  reprobated  by  men.  Functions  of  the  visible  head 
stated,  i.  To  affirm  a  Church  without  a  visible  head,  is  naturally  absurd. 
2.  It  is  socially  disastrous.  3.  It  is  scripturally  false.  Objections  refuted. 
Conclusion. 

St.  Paul,  quoting  from  the  same  passage  of  the  prophet  Isaias, 
calls  this  corner-stone,  which  "shall  be  a  sanctification  to  you,"  "a 
stumbling-stone  and  a  rock  of  scandal;  and  whosoever  believes  in 
him,  shall  not  be  confounded."  These  words  refer,  of  course,  to  the 
Messias ;  in  the  mouth  of  the  prophet  they  foretold  the  Saviour,  who 
built  up  the  Church  of  God  and  entered  Himself  into  the  edifice,  as 
the  "chief  corner-stone,  elect  and  precious;"  who  established  the 
Christian  fold  and  became  its  invisible  head,  from  whom  it  derives 
its  undying  life.  But  these  same  words  may,  indirectly  and  very 
properly,  apply  to  him,  who,  upon  Christ's  withdrawing  from  among 
men,  took  His  place  in  the  Temple  of  God's  Church,  became  His 
vicar  and  representative,  the  visible  head  of  the  Christian  fold.  The 
Pope  is  the  visible  "corner-stone,  elect  and  precious,"  in  whom  if  men 
believe,  they  shall  not  be  confounded ;  but  who,  like  Christ  whom  he 
represents  before  men,  is  become  a  stumbling-stone  and  a  rock  of 
scandal  for  many  who  believe  not  in  him. 

We  have  but  to  reflect  for  a  moment  and  consider  how  necessary 
for  the  propagation  and  preservation  of  the  true  faith  in  the  world 
throughout  the  ages,  as  well  as  for  our  own  individual  act  of  faith,  is 
the  authority  vested  in  his  sacred  office  and  person — governing  and 
teaching  with  that  collective  wisdom  infinitely  superior,  even  inde- 
pendently of  divine  assistance,  to  the  wisdom  of  the  individual :  to 
understand  why  this  corner-stone  is  truly  "elect  and  precious,"  and 
a  security  against  confusion  here  and  hereafter.  While,  on  the  other 


236 


THE   CREED. 


hand,  knowing  the  evil  eye  with  which  men  outside  the  Church  look 
upon  him,  sensing  all  the  malignity  and  hatred  that  lies  behind  the 
epithets  of  "papist"  and  "romanist,"  so  often  hurled  at  us  who  be- 
lieve and  are  not  confounded ;  realizing  that  the  question  of  spiritual 
supremacy  involved  in  this  dignity,  apparently  or  in  reality,  keeps 
thousands  and  millions  out  of  the  fold:  we  will  not  fail  to  discover 
here  "the  stumbling-stone,  the  rock  of  scandal,  the  sign  set  for  the 
ruin  of  many  in  Israel,  which  shall  be  contradicted."  We  bless 
our  supreme  pastor,  because  by  the  power  given  to  him,  we,  the 
sheep,  are  fed  with  a  wholesome  spiritual  food;  they  stone  him 
because  he  blasphemes  and  makes  himself  the  Vicar  of  Christ.  It 
is  worthy  and  just  that'  the  Vicar  should  be  treated  like  the  Master, 
should  imitate  Him  in  all  things:  be  a  subject  for  consolation  and  an 
object  of  contradiction,  according  as  men  see  the  light  which  he  rep- 
resents and  reflects.  Happy  we  who  are  not  scandalized  in  him ! 

Men  hear  Christ's  proclamation  of  supremacy:  "all  power  is 
given  to  me  in  heaven  and  on  earth,"  and  are  not  offended  thereby. 
Twenty  centuries  of  Christianity  have  held  up  before  their  eyes  the 
image  of  the  Word  made  flesh,  of  whom  it  is  written:  "And  he 
hath  on  his  garment  and  on  his  thigh  written:  King  of  kings, 
and  Lord  of  lords ;"  and  His  title  to  dominion  is  still  honored  by  the 
bulk  of  humanity  in  civilized  parts.  But  what  of  His  work!  He 
founded  a  Church  to  carry  on  perpetually  His  mission  of  redemption : 
well  and  good.  But  let  this  Man-God,  while  reserving  for  Himself 
the  office  of  invisible  and  divine  ruling  from  His  throne  in  the 
heavens,  choose  and  set  up  in  His  stead  on  earth,  to  teach  and  govern, 
a  human  agent,  in  immediate  touch  with  humanity  through  human 
channels,  whose  authority  communicated  from  above,  is  binding  on 
the  soul  and  conscience  of  those  over  whom  he  is  placed;  let  Him 
give  a  head  to  the  corporate  religious  body  He  created,  a  chief 
magistrate  to  the  religious  society  He  formed,  a  perpetual  Peter  to 
the  Church  He  founded ;  let  Him  give  a  form  to  His  organization  in 
keeping  with  human  ideas ;  let  Him  hand  over  to  a  mere  mortal  the 
keys  of  the  kingdom,  and  commission  him  to  rule  and  teach  under 
the  unerring  guidance  of  the  unseen  Spirit  and  at  once  the  world  is  in 
rebellion.  This  is  what  offends  and  scandalizes,  and  appears  to  them 
unworthy  of  a  God.  That  He  should  lower  Himself  to  work  for  us, 
is  nothing ;  that  He  should  raise  up  a  creature  to  a  lofty  pinnacle  of 
dignity  to  continue  His  work,  is  preposterous,  and  they  will  not 
hear  it.  The  divine  Architect  plans  and  executes  with  infinite  wis- 


THE  VISIBLE  HEAD  OF  THE  CHURCH:  HIS  OFFICE.       237 

dom ;  and  puny  man  finds  flaws  in  His  scheme.  "We  will  have  no 
man  to  lead  us,"  they  say,  "we  will  brook  no  human  authority,  no 
visible  supremacy ;  this  is  not  as  it  should  be.  Let  the  Invisible  One 
lead  us,  and  Him  alone.  Not  seeing  Him,  nor  hearing  Him,  if  we 
are  weak  and  ignorant,  we  shall  err;  if  evil,  we  may  follow  as  we 
please  or  not  follow  Him :  our  wandering  shall  thus  find  justification. 
Away  with  your  Pope !  We  will  have  none  of  him !" 

This  is  the  state  of  the  question.  How  shall  we  vindicate  the 
wisdom  of  God !  How  shall  we  justify  the  economy  of  His  building 
the  Christian  temple  and  show  forth  the  reason  and  necessity  of  the 
office  of  a  visible  corner-stone. 

Might  we  not  just  as  well  try  to  show  the  necessity  of  a  head  to 
the  human  body  ?  A  body  without  a  head !  Nature  offers  nothing 
like  it.  Let  the  body  be  human,  politic,  social,  religious :  in  the  col- 
lection of  units  that  go  to  make  up  the  whole,  in  the  various  mem- 
bers that  compose  it,  there  must  be  order,  unity,  harmony,  solidity; 
and  there  can  be  none,  as  there  can  be  no  justification  for  calling 
such  an  aggregation  of  parts  a  moral  whole  or  entity,  without 
co-ordination  of  such  parts,  one  principal  unit  or  part  emerging  as 
the  head  or  chief.  It'  is  a  law  of  nature,  based  on  accidental  inequali- 
ties and  diversity  of  tastes  and  aptitudes,  that  where  many  are  gath- 
ered together,  one  takes  the  leadership,  all  follow  the  lead  of  one  best 
fitted  to  direct.  The  flock,  the  herd,  yields  to  this  law  of  nature. 
Where  will  you  find  a  fold  without  a  shepherd,  an  army  without  a 
captain,  a  navy  without  an  admiral,  a  ship-crew  without  a  captain, 
a  state  without  a  chief  magistrate?  The  very  school  boy  becomes  a 
leader  of  his  companions.  Even  criminals  obey  this  law. 

Now  the  Church  is  a  body,  a  moral  body,  a  body  religious,  a  body 
militant,  a  complete  and  perfect  organism,  intended  by  the  Founder, 
Jesus  Christ,  to  make  for  harmony,  effectiveness  and  perpetuity 
among  men.  The  same  God  is  the  author  of  nature.  The  instinct  for 
order  found  in  every  collection  of  individual  creatures  must  be 
Godgiven.  This  instinct  fits  all  things  in  their  respective  places, 
subordinates  some  to  others  for  the  greater  good  of  all,  estab- 
lishes precedence  culminating  in  a  highest  rank  of  honor  and  author- 
ity. This  is  wisdom,  the  divine  wisdom  which  men  admire  in  God's 
works.  If  God  shows  this  wisdom  in  all  things  of  nature,  how  is  it 
conceivable  that  He  left  it  out  of  the  greatest  work  of  all,  the  organ- 
ization created  for  the  salvation  of  men  and  the  profiting  by  the 
Blood  of  the  Lamb!  And  why  should  not  this  work  of  God  be 


238  THE   CREED. 

according  to  the  law  of  nature !  Is  there  any  creature  on  earth  more 
natural  than  man?  And  man  is  the  material  of  which  the  Church 
is  made  up.  He  can  not  follow  in  his  religious  life  a  law  not  in 
keeping  with  his  nature.  God  can  elevate  man  above  nature,  but 
He  can  not,  without  contradiction  and  destruction,  treat  him  without 
regard  for,  and  against,  the  order  according  to  which  he  is  made. 
Here  as  elsewhere  nature  demands  a  head;  order  requires  it.  To 
affirm  a  Church  made  up  of  men  without  a  human  visible  head,  is  un- 
natural, monstrous. 

Napoleon  is  credited  with  saying  that,  if  the  papacy  did  not  exist, 
it  would  be  necessary  to  invent  it.  It  may  safely  be  taken  for 
granted  that  neither  faith  nor  piety  prompted  this  utterance.  It  was 
simply  that,  with  his  profound  knowledge  of  men  and  his  common 
sense,  acute  to  the  point  of  genius,  he  saw  for  the  spiritual  world, 
in  the  absence  of  a  head  to  rule  and  teach,  spiritual  anarchy  and 
the  destruction  of  the  religious  idea  among  civilized  peoples — results 
than  which  nothing  more  appalling  for  the  human  race  can  be 
imagined.  Now,  what  is  anarchy?  Anarchy  is  a  proposed  disinte- 
gration of  society  in  which  it  is  imagined  that  social  order  can 
exist  without  government,  authority,  law,  supremacy.  It  is  exem- 
plified in  the  periodical  killing  off  of  heads  of  governments,  without 
regard  to  the  individual  who  happens  to  be  seated  in  the  chair  of 
authority,  but  on  the  sole  principle  that  no  one  has  the  right  to  rule 
or  command.  It  means,  of  course,  wherever  this  monster  trails  its 
slimy  lengths,  confusion,  destruction,  ruin,  chaos.  It  is  the  mortal 
enemy  of  civil  government  and  society;  for  society  can  not  be  con- 
ceived without  a  head. 

It  is  strange  how  men,  who  are  shocked  at  the  very  idea  of  an- 
archy in  reference  to  civil  and  social  matters,  demur  not  in  accepting 
it  in  the  spiritual  and  religious  realm.  Yet  how  obvious  is  it!  If 
one  who  advocates  the  absence  of  formal  government  in  things  reli- 
gious, regards  it  as  essentially  tyrannical,  would  destroy  it,  and  thus 
bring  about  an  unregulated  and  chaotic  condition  in  the  domain 
of  religion :  if  such  a  one  is  not  a  religious  anarchist,  then  the  word 
has  no  meaning.  If  Christianity  is  a  society  organized  by  Christ, 
whose  members  are  held  together  by  belief  in  His  teachings,  then  a 
principle  which  breaks  this  bond  of  belief  is  anarchical.  Now, 
away  from  unity  with  the  visible  head  of  the  Church,  the  teachings  of 
Christ — essential  and  fundamental  truths — are  fast  fading  from 
men's  minds.  The  germ  of  revolt  against  religious  authority  is 


THE  VISIBLE  HEAD  OF  THE  CHURCH:  HIS  OFFICE.       239 

bearing  fruit.  It  is  a  fact  as  clear  as  the  noon-day  sun  that  the 
rockbed  truths  of  Christianity— the  Trinity,  the  divinity  of  Christ, 
vicarious  atonement,  hell,  original  sin,  etc.,  are  no  longer  in  honor 
with  the  majority  of  non-Catholics  in  our  country. 

It  was  fatal,  this  condition  had  to  come.  Authority  and  law  was 
denied ;  disorder  crept  in.  The  keystone  of  the  edifice  was  removed ; 
the  edifice  collapsed.  The  tie  that  bound  the  members  together  was 
snapped  asunder;  warring  sects  arose,  each  straining  in  its  own 
way;  one  affirming,  another  denying;  all  free-lances,  all  individ- 
ualists with  a  theory.  In  rejecting  the  visible  head  of  the  Church, 
they  rejected  the  principle  of  authority  and  supremacy  in  reli- 
gious order.  Thus  was  religious  anarchy  begotten.  Like  causes 
produce  like  results.  What  is  a  law  of  death  for  civil  society,  can 
not  fail  to  be  a  law  of  death  for  the  religious  and  spiritual.  Just  as 
a  body  can  not  exist  without  a  head,  neither  can  a  society  exist 
without  a  center  of  unity  and  authority.  Take  any  aggregation  of 
men,  bent  on  any  purpose  whatsoever,  and  it  will  be  a  mere  mob, 
will  accomplish  nothing  but  ruin,  if  there  be  no  one  to  command 
and  lead.  Why  ?  Because  no  unity  exists :  hence  confusion  and  dis- 
order. 

Now  God,  who  is  the  author  of  society,  is  the  source  and  foun- 
tain-head of  order.  In  His  Church,  therefore,  order  and  harmony 
must  obtain;  and  this  can  be  only  under  conditions  which  secure 
order  and  harmony  in  all  societies.  His  Church  was  intended  to  ac- 
complish something.  If  no  civil  society  can  accomplish  anything 
without  government,  how  can  a  religious?  It  was  intended  to  last 
as  long  as  man.  But  anarchy  is  destruction.  In  the  Church  as  well 
as  in  the  State  God's  wisdom  must  show  itself.  And  there  is  no 
wisdom  in  founding  a  Church  and  placing  therein  the  seeds  of  death. 

But  we  have  the  word  of  One  more  competent  than  Napoleon  to 
speak  on  the  necessity  of  a  Supreme  Pastor  over  the  flock  of  Christ. 
It  is  the  Word  of  Christ  who  founded  the  Church,  who  is  its  invisible 
head,  who  had  His  idea  as  to  the  fitness  of  things,  and  whose  wisdom 
counts  for  more  than  ours.  With  His  word  before  us,  we  shall 
see  that,  not  only  is  it  naturally  absurd  and  socially  disastrous,  but 
it  is  scripturally  false,  that  Christ  established  a  Church  without  the 
office  of  a  visible  head. 

Behold  the  group  of  Apostles  He  has  called  to  Him,  the  first  Chris- 
tian society,  learning  at  His  feet  the  laws  of  the  kingdom  He  is  about 
to  found.  There  is  but  one  head ;  it  is  He.  But  He  is  not  to  remain 


240  THE  CREED. 

with  them  forever  visibly  to  rule  and  teach.  The  Cross  of  Calvary 
beckons  to  Him,  and  He  must  go  to  buy  the  price  of  salvation  for 
men's  souls.  This  done,  His  Church  will  continue  His  mission 
among  men,  will  apply  the  fruits  of  His  passion,  perpetuate  His 
work.  He  sends  and  commissions  them,  He  promises  to  be  with 
them  ever.  And  now,  behold  He  singles  out  one  from  among  them. 
No  doubt  as  to  who  he  is ;  He  names  him.  To  make  the  choice  and 
election  more  solemn  and  impressive  and  in  accordance  with  the 
Eastern  custom  of  royalty,  He  changes  his  name.  "Simon,  son  of 
John,  thou  art  no  longer  Simon.  Thou  art  Peter.  Peter  is  hence- 
forth thy  name."  He  exacts  of  him  a  triple  confession  of  love  for 
Him  greater  than  that  of  all  the  others ;  as  if  to  show  how,  as  being 
singular  in  affection,  so  he  is  to  be  made  singular  in  authority  and 
honor. 

"Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  Church ;  and 
the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.  ...  And  I  will 
give  to  thee  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven :  and  whatsoever  thou 
shalt  bind  upon  earth,  it  shall  be  bound  also  in  heaven:  and  what- 
soever thou  shalt  loose  upon  earth,  it  shall  be  loosed  also  in  heaven. 
.  .  .  Feed  my  lambs,  feed  my  sheep." 

Peter  is  a  rock.  A  rock  is  the  basis  and  foundation  of  an  edifice, 
without  which  it  can  not  subsist.  It  is  the  center  of  unity,  without 
which  we  have  but  a  mass  of  raw  material.  It  is  the  principle  of 
solidity,  without  which  it  can  not  endure.  This  is  the  function  of  a 
visible  head :  to  be  the  center  of  unity,  harmony,  peace,  by  direction, 
command,  and  teaching.  Here  is  a  head  appointed  by  divine  author- 
ity. If  we  want  a  divine  church,  and  not  a  church  according  to  the 
vagaries  of  human  fancy,  here  it  is. 

Peter  has  the  keys.  Keys  are  the  emblem  of  supreme  authority  in 
the  realm,  a  symbol  recognized  among  all  peoples.  To  the  victor  of 
old  were  given  the  keys  of  the  city  to  signify  that  to  him  was  turned 
over  the  power  to  rule.  To  Peter  were  confided  the  keys  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven;  to  him  was  given  power  to  be  exercised  on 
earth,  and  recognized  in  heaven — power  to  bind  and  loose,  by  laws 
and  teachings.  Could  anything  be  clearer? 

Peter  is  made  the  shepherd  over  all,  over  lambs  and  sheep,  over 
great  and  small,  high  and  low,  subjects  and  subordinates,  rulers  and 
teachers.  Shepherds  are  supreme  rulers  over  their  flocks.  Rulers 
and  kings,  especially  in  the  East,  are  called  shepherds.  The  idea  is 
luminous  and  pregnant  with  meaning.  The  prophet  Ezechiel  thus 


THE  VISIBLE  HEAD  OF  THE  CHURCH:  HIS  OFFICE. 


241 


announced  in  vision  the  Messias :  "I  will  set  up  one  shepherd  over 
them :  and  he  shall  feed  them,  even  my  servant  David :  he  shall  feed 
them  and  he  shall  be  their  shepherd."  Twas  Christ  the  prophet 
saw,  the  founder  of  the  Christian  fold  and  its  divine  shepherd,  its  in- 
visible head.  The  Father  set  Him  up;  the  Father  sent  Him.  As 
the  Father  sent  Him,  so  He  sent  others,  with  all  the  "power  that 
had  been  given  to  him  in  heaven  and  in  earth,"  as  He  Himself  says. 
And  notice  how  He  sends  Peter  and  sets  him  up  with  the  identical 
words  which  the  Father  established  and  sent  Him.  Peter  is  the 
one  shepherd  set  up  over  all,  even  over  the  high  ones  like  David. 
He  shall  feed  them  and  be  their  shepherd :  "feed  my  lambs,  feed  my 
sheep." 

Christ's  place  Peter  takes,  by  divine  appointment,  over  all,  to  rule 
and  teach  even  as  He  had  done,  to  be  His  Vicar. 

"But,"  some  one  will  say,  "the  visible  head,  necessary  at  the  begin-" 
ning,  is  not  necessary  now."  And  why  not  now !  There  is  no  indi- 
cation, in  Scripture  or  elsewhere,  that  the  essential  organization  of 
the  Church  was  to  change.  It'  was  established  by  a  wise  God  for 
human  beings  for  all  time.  It  is  but  ordinary  respect  for  God  to 
say  that  it  was  established  according  to  the  needs  of  men.  And 
human  nature  does  not  change  in  its  essential  aspects.  There  is  no 
sign  whereby  we  may  know  when  and  where,  and  how  men  have 
undergone  such  a  transformation  as  to  necessitate  a  reorganization 
of  the  Church.  There  is  even  more  need  now  than  there  was  then. 
Men  have  less  faith  and  less  charity.  They  are  farther  away  from  the 
sources  of  revelation,  and  are  therefore  less  respectful.  Secondary 
teachers  are  more  numerous,  less  carefully  chosen  and  prepared,  by 
men;  whereas  then  they  were  few,  elected  and  taught  by  Christ, 
who  is  God.  The  faithful  are  spread  over  the  whole  world ;  nations 
have  sprung  up  and  divided  peoples.  Hence  never  greater  danger  of 
dissension  and  disunion.  Hence  now  formal  government  to  preserve 
the  unity  and  purity  of  faith  is  more  imperiously  demanded. 

If  others  say  that  the  time  for  a  change  in  the  economy  of  church 
government  came  when  the  Church  fell  away;  we  answer  that  this 
is  equivalent  to  saying  that  the  Word  of  Christ  has  failed.  He  knew 
the  temptations  of  men  and  foresaw  their  liability  to  err  and  to 
abuse  the  tremendous  power  thus  conferred.  For  that  reason  He 
provided  a  safeguard :  "I  am  with  you  all  days  even  to  the  consum- 
mation of  the  world."  Reconcile  this  promise  with  the  falling  away 
of  Christ's  Church.  Either  His  word  is  true  and  He  is  with  the 


242  THE  CREED. 

Church,  true  to  His  promise ;  or  not.  If  so,  how  could  the  Spouse  of 
Christ  prove  faithless  to  her  Redeemer ! 

Again :  "Is  it  right  that  a  mere  man  should  hold  the  place  of  God 
over  his  fellows  ?"  Is  it  right  that  any  man  should  hold  a  position  of 
authority  over  others  in  any  sphere?  If  in  temporals,  why  not  in 
spirituals  ?  Worldly  rulers  are  God's  lieutenants.  Parents  are  God's 
vicars.  In  His  sight  we  are  all  children  and  subjects.  Why  not  dele- 
gate His  authority  in  one  domain  as  well  as  in  another !  And  if  He 
has  done  so  in  spiritual  matters — as  He  has — why  demand  reasons 
of  the  fact  of  Him  who  is  all  wise?  If  God  did  confer  supreme 
power  on  Peter  and  his  successors,  as  we  know  from  Holy  Writ  that 
He  did,  that  ought  to  be  enough  for  any  one  who  believes  in  an 
infinite  God. 

The  Catholic  Church  has  such  a  leader,  as  nature,  reason,  and 
revelation  demand  that  it  should  have ;  has  had  such  a  leader  since 
the  moment  Christ  relinquished  His  place  and  left  Peter  in  His  stead. 
For  over  nineteen  centuries  holy  men  have  followed  each  other  in  that 
office  of  visible  supremacy  in  unbroken  succession  and  handed  down 
the  scepter  that  Peter  in  the  beginning  received  from  Christ.  In 
that  office,  whose  present  incumbent  is  the  wise  and  kindly  Pius 
the  Tenth,  Catholic  unity  is  centered,  order  is  assured,  Christ's  word 
is  verified.  He  is  a  head,  not  a  figure-head.  He  not  only  presides, 
but  he  rules  as  well.  He  teaches,  but  with  a  voice  as  of  one  having 
authority.  He  commands  not  only  respect,  but  obedience.  His  is  a 
primacy  of  jurisdiction,  as  well  as  of  honor. 

Ours  therefore  the  duty  of  thanking  a  wise  God  for  the  manner 
of  His  dealing  with  men,  and  for  the  faith  by  which  we  believe  in 
Christ,  the  chief  corner-stone  divine,  and  in  His  representative  and 
Vicar,  the  visible  head  of  the  Church ;  "for,  he  that  shall  believe  in 
him,  shall  not  be  confounded." 


INFALLIBILITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  AND  OF  THE  POPE.      243 


XXIX.    INFALLIBILITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  AND  OF  THE 

POPE. 

BY  THE  REV.   H.   G.    HUGHES. 

"In  the  days  of  those  kingdoms,  the  God  of  Heaven  will  set  up  a  kingdom 
that  shall  never  be  destroyed;  and  His  kingdom  shall  not  be  delivered  up  to 
another  people;  and  it  shall  break  in  pieces,  and  it  shall  consume  all  these 
kingdoms;  and  itself  shall  stand  forever." — Daniel  ii,  44. 

"And  Jesus  answering  said:  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon  Bar-Jona:  because 
flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  to  thee,  but  my  Father  who  is  in 
heaven:  And  I  say  to  thee  that  thou  art  Peter;  and  upon  this  rock  I  will 
build  my  church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it." — Matt, 
xvi,  17,  1 8. 

SYNOPSIS — /.  The  dream  of  Nabuchodonosor,  and  its  interpretation.  The 
kingdom  of  God  on  earth.  The  beginnings  of  the  kingdom.  St.  John 
the  Baptist.  The  call  and  promise  to  Simon.  Progress  of  the  work. 
A  visible  kingdom,  in  the  world  though  not  of  the  world.  A  universal 
kingdom — teach  all  nations.  A  kingdom  to  last  for  all  time. 

II.  The  Petrine  Privileges.    The  confession  of  Peter  and  its  reward. 
Words  of  tremendous  import.     What  do  they  mean?    Peter  the  Rock. 
Peter  the  bearer  of  the  keys.    His  work  to  last  "all  days  even  to  the 
consummation  of  the  world."    A  questions-Would  God  give  these  powers, 
and  not  also  give  protection  from  error  in  their  use? 

III.  The  doctrine  in  Christian  antiquity.    St.  Clement.    The  Council 
of  Chalcedon.    Is  it  an  usurpation?     If  so,  why  no  protest?  But  the 
Fathers  are  unanimous  as  to  the  principle. 

IV.  Infallibility   of  Church   and  Pope  bound  up   together.     Object 
of  the  Church — the  salvation  of  souls.    For  this  is  necessary  the  inerrant 
teaching  of  truth.     Church's  inerrancy  involves  (a)  inerrancy  in  teach- 
ing, (b)  inerrancy  in  believing.    How  would  a  humanly  instituted  society 
ensure  unity?    By  having  an  authoritative  head.     Our  Lord  has  chosen 
the  same  way.   Reason  and  revelation  are  in  agreement  here.    The  infal- 
libility of  the  Pope  is  the  only  way  of  securing  and  accounting  for  the 
unity  of  the  Church. 

I.  In  the  second  year  of  his  reign,  Nabuchodonosor,  ruler  of  the 
mighty  empire  of  Babylon,  dreamed  a  dream.  Waking  from  sleep, 
his  spirit  was  terrified,  and  his  dream  went  out  of  his  mind.  He 
called  around  him  his  wise  men,  his  magicians,  and  his  astrologers, 
and  demanded  of  them  what  had  been  his  dream,  and  what  was  the 
interpretation  of  it.  They  being  unable  to  comply  with  this  com- 
mand, the  king,  in  his  wrath,  ordered  that  all  the  wise  men  of  Baby- 
lon should  be  put  to  death.  Now  among  them  were  counted,  at  this 
time,  the  holy  prophet  Daniel,  and  his  three  companions,  Ananias, 


244  THE   CREED. 

Azarias,  and  Misael,  who  had  been  brought  with  the  rest  of  their 
nation  into  captivity.  Daniel,  hearing  of  the  cruel  sentence  of  death 
thus  passed  upon  himself  and  his  companions  together  with  the 
heathen  soothsayers  and  magicians,  hastened  to  the  king's  court,  and 
promised  that,  if  time  were  given  him  to  pray  to  the  God  of  heaven, 
he  would  declare  both  the  king's  dream,  and  the  interpretation  of  it. 

That  night,  accordingly,  he  prayed  to  God,  who  revealed  to  him 
in  a  vision  the  king's  dream  and  its  signification.  And  the  king's 
dream  was  this :  He  saw,  and  behold  there  was  a  great  statue,  tall 
of  stature,  and  with  a  terrible  look.  And  the  head  of  the  statue  was 
of  fine  gold ;  the  breast  and  arms  of  silver ;  the  belly  and  thighs  of 
brass;  and  the  feet  part  of  iron,  and  part  of  clay.  And  the  king 
looked  till  a  stone  was  cut  out  of  a  mountain  without  hands ;  and  it 
struck  the  statue  upon  the  feet  thereof  that  were  of  iron  and  clay,  and 
broke  them  in  pieces.  Then  was  the  iron,  the  clay,  the  brass,  the 
silver  and  the  gold  broken  to  pieces  together,  and  became  like  the 
chaff  of  a  summer's  thrashing-floor,  and  they  were  carried  away  by 
the  wind,  and  there  was  no  place  found  for  them ;  but  the  stone  that 
struck  the  statue  became  a  great  mountain,  and  filled  the  whole  earth. 

Now  the  great  statue,  dear  brethren,  represented  the  great  em- 
pires of  the  world  that  were  to  follow  one  another.  The  head  of 
gold  represented  the  empire  of  Nabuchodonosor  himself ;  the  breast 
and  arms  of  silver  represented  the  empire  of  the  Medes  and  Per- 
sians;  upon  this  there  was  to  follow  the  Macedonian  empire  of  Alex- 
ander the  Great;  while  finally,  represented  by  the  feet,  part  of  iron 
and  part  of  clay,  was  to  come  the  world-wide  empire  of  Rome.  And 
when  this  last  great  empire  was  at  its  height  should  come  the  stone, 
cut  out  of  a  mountain  without  hands,  rolling  without  any  visible 
mover,  small,  indeed,  at  first,  but  afterward  filling  the  whole  earth. 
It  was  to  strike  the  statue  on  the  feet;  that  is  it  should  come  into 
conflict  with,  and  should  break  in  pieces  the  Roman  Empire,  at  its 
center,  and  thereby  shatter  the  kingdoms  of  the  world,  dependent 
upon  Rome,  and  should  become  a  world-wide  power,  filling  the  whole 
earth,  for,  said  the  Prophet :  "In  the  days  of  those  kingdoms  the  God 
of  Heaven  will  set  up  a  kingdom  that  shall  never  be  destroyed,  and 
his  kingdom  shall  not  be  delivered  up  to  another  people,  and  it  shall 
break  in  pieces  and  shall  consume  all  those  kingdoms,  and  itself  shall 
stand  forever"  (Dan.  ii,  44). 

Nearly  six  hundred  years  after  this,  dear  brethren,  when  the  last 
of  those  great  empires  was  at  the  summit  of  its  power  and  prosperity, 


INFALLIBILITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  AND  OF  THE  POPE.      245 

a  man  suddenly  appeared  on  the  banks  of  the  Jordan  in  the  Roman 
province  of  Palestine.  He  was  a  striking  and  remarkable  figure, 
recalling  to  the  minds  of  those  who  saw  him,  the  prophets  of  old. 
He  was  clothed  in  a  rough  garment  of  camel's  hair ;  he  lived  a  life 
of  austere  penance,  subsisting  upon  locusts  and  wild  honey.  His 
preaching  accorded  with  his  life,  for  the  burden  of  it  was:  "Do 
•penance  for  the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand." 

Yes,  dear  brethren,  the  kingdom  of  God  was  then  at  hand,  the 
King  Himself  was  come,  the  stone  hewn  without  hands  from  the 
mountain  was  about  to  strike  the  feet  of  the  great  statue,  to  come 
into  opposition  with  the  world-wide  power  of  Rome,  which  it  was  to 
break  in  pieces. 

Soon  after,  this  same  preacher,  in  whom  you  will  have  recognized 
St.  John  the  Baptist,  was  exercising  his  office  and  baptizing  in  the 
waters  of  the  Jordan,  when,  looking  up,  he  saw  One  coming  toward 
him.  Inspired  by  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  he  points  to  the  new  comer 
and  cries  out :  "Behold  the  Lamb  of  God ;  Behold,  here  is  he  who 
taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world !  This  is  he  of  whom  I  said,  After 
me  cometh  a  Man  who  is  preferred  before  me,  because  he  was 
before  me." 

And  henceforth  the  Forerunner  decreases,  while  He  to  whom  he 
has  borne  witness,  who  is  none  other  than  the  King  of  the  new  king- 
dom, Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour,  increases.  "And  the  next  day  again 
John  stood,  and  two  of  his  disciples;  and  beholding  Jesus  walking, 
he  saith,  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God.  And  the  two  disciples  heard 
him  speak,  and  they  followed  Jesus.  And  Jesus  turning  and  seeing 
them  following  him  saith  to  them :  What  seek  you  ?  Who  said  to  him 
Rabbi — Master — where  dwellest  thou?  He  saith  to  them,  come 
and  see.  .  .  .  And  Andrew,  the  brother  of  Simon  Peter,  was 
one  of  the  two  who  had  heard  of  John,  and  followed  him.  He  fmdeth 
first  his  brother  Simon,  and  saith  to  him ;  we  have  found  the  Messias. 
.  .  .  and  he  brought  him  to  Jesus.  And  Jesus,  looking  upon 
him  said.  Thou  art  Simon,  the  Son  of  Jona,  thou  shalt  be  called 
Kephas — Peter"  (John  i,  35-42).  The  work  is  begun,  the  new 
kingdom,  the  kingdom  of  God  is  now  inaugurated,  and  the  first  thing 
that  the  Founder  of  the  kingdom  does  is  to  choose  the  Rock  upon 
which  that  kingdom  is  to  rest  as  its  solid  and  sure  foundation. 
"Thou  art  Simon;  thou  shalt  be  called  in  the  future  Peter — the 
Rock." 

Time  goes  on.    The  Divine  Lord  of  the  kingdom  pushes  on  the 


246 


THE   CREED. 


work.  He  calls  around  him  Apostles  and  disciples.  He  preaches  and 
sends  them  to  preach,  confirming  His  heavenly  mission  by  great  signs 
and  wonders.  Everywhere  the  burden  of  their  preaching  is  the 
same ;  it  is  the  announcement  of  the  Forerunner  repeated,  "Do  Pen- 
ance ;  for  the  kingdom,  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  God's  own  kingdom 
upon  earth  is  at  hand."  Note,  too,  dear  brethren,  the  character  of  this 
kingdom,  as  we  have  it  described  in  the  Gospels.  It  is  no  invisible 
kingdom,  whose  members  are  known  to  God  only.  No :  the  Founder 
Himself  declares  that  it  is  like  a  city  set  on  a  hill  like  one  of  those 
towns  of  which,  while  He  spoke,  his  hearers  could  see  more  than 
one,  perched  on  rocky  eminences — standing  out  in  the  clear  atmos- 
phere of  that  southern  clime — impossible  to  be  hid.  It  is  not  a 
kingdom  in  heaven ;  for  He  tells  us  also  that  it  will  number  among 
its  members  both  good  and  bad,  as  a  net  cast  into  the  sea  brings  up 
good  and  bad  fish.  Moreover,  He  compares  it  to  a  field,  in  which 
good  wheat  was  sown,  and  an  enemy  came  in  the  night  and  sowed 
bad  seed ;  and  both  are  to  grow  together  till  the  harvest,  which  is  the 
end  of  the  world;  when  the  reapers,  who  are  God's  holy  angels, 
will  separate  the  bad  from  the  good.  It  is  a  kingdom,  then,  in  the 
world,  but  not  of  the  world. 

Again,  it  is  to  be  a  universal  kingdom;  for  the  Founder  says  to 
His  Apostles — "Go  ye  into  the  whole  world,  and  'teach  all  nations.'  " 

It  is  to  be  a  united  kingdom,  not  a  kingdom  divided  against  itself. 
"A  house  divided  against  itself  can  not  stand,"  and  Jesus,  in  the  last 
days  of  His  earthly  life  prays  for  His  followers  that  they  may  be  one, 
with  so  complete  and  perfect  a  unity,  that  He  does  not  hesitate  to 
compare  it  with  the  unity  that  exists  between  His  Father  and  Him- 
self— "that  they  may  be  one,  even  as  thou,  Father,  and  I  are  one" 
(St.  John  xvii,  21). 

Moreover,  the  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth  is  to  last  as  long  as  time 
itself ;  for  to  those  who  are  commissioned  to  spread  it  He  says,  "Lo, 
I  am  with  you  all  days,  even  unto  the  consummation  of  the  world" 
(Matt,  xxviii,  20). 

II.  But  let  us  go  on  a  little  further  in  the  history  of  the  begin- 
nings of  the  kingdom.  On  a  certain  day,  the  Divine  Master  is  at 
Caesarea  Philippi.  It  is  not  long  before  His  work  is  to  end,  appar- 
ently in  complete  failure,  and  He  himself  to  be  put  to  a  most  cruel 
and  shameful  death.  He  asks  of  His  Apostles  a  question :  "Whom  do 
men  say  that  the  Son  of  Man  is  ?"  And  they  reply,  "Some  John  the 
ilaptist,  and  others  Elias,  and  others  Jeremias,  or  one  of  the  pro- 


INFALLIBILITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  AND  OF  THE  POPE.      247 

phets."  Jesus  saith  to  them:  "But  whom  do  you  say  that  I  am?" 
Then  speaks  Peter — the  Rock — to  whom  the  promise  "thou  shalt 
be  called  Peter,"  had  been  made.  Simon  Peter  answered  and  said, 
"Thou  are  the  Christ ;  the  Son  of  the  living  God."  Oh,  blessed  and 
happy  confession  of  faith!  Oh,  great  reward  conferred  upon  him 
who  made  it !  "Jesus  answering,  said  to  him :  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon 
Bar-Jona:  because  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it  to  thee,  but 
my  Father  who  is  in  heaven.  And  I  say  unto  thee  that  thou  art 
Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church,  and  the  gates  of 
hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.  And  I  will  give  thee  the  keys  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  And  whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth, 
it  shall  be  bound  also  in  heaven :  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  on 
earth,  it  shall  be  loosed  also  in  heaven"  (Matt,  xvi,  14-19). 

Dear  brethren,  it  must  surely  appear  to  the  most  careless  reader 
of  the  Gospels,  that  we  have  here  words  of  most  tremendous  import. 
Of  tremendous  import  because  they  confer,  in  the  plainest,  most  obvi- 
ous terms,  powers  of  vast  extent,  over  the  things  of  the  other  world, 
upon  a  mere  man.  Of  tremendous  import,  also,  in  that  by  the  very 
greatness  of  the  reward  we  are  taught  the  true  value  of  that  con- 
fession of  faith :  "Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God."  It 
was  a  confession  of  the  Divine  Sonship,  as  well  as  of  the  Messianic 
office  of  the  Master. 

But  let  us  see  what  is  given  to  Peter  by  those  words,  remembering 
that  they  are  the  words  of  God ;  and  that  when  God  speaks,  it  is  not 
as  when  man  speaks.  When  God  speaks,  every  word  is  pregnant 
with  deep  meaning ;  yes,  and,  moreover,  the  words  of  God  are  effec- 
tive: they  operate  and  bring  to  pass  that  which  they  enunciate. 
What,  then,  is  granted  to  St.  Peter  ?  Four  things.  And  note  that  of 
these  four  things,  only  the  last,  the  power  of  binding  and  loosing, 
was  promised  by  Jesus  Christ  to  the  other  Apostles  in  common  with 
Peter  (cf.  Matt,  xviii,  18). 

First,  then,  Peter  is  to  be  the  Rock — the  sure  foundation  upon 
which  the  Church  of  God  is  to  stand  secure  and  firm.  Secondly,  be- 
cause of  this  foundation  no  assaults  of  hell  shall  ever  prevail  against 
that  Church.  By  the  "gates"  of  a  place  its  power,  its  strength  is  sig- 
nified. We  have,  indeed,  in  modern  times  a  surviving  instance  of  this 
ancient  usage,  when  we  speak  of  the  Ottoman  Porte — or  "gate," 
meaning  by  that  expression  the  Ottoman  Empire.  It  is  a  formal 
phrase  which  conveys  the  idea  of  the  power  and  dignity  of  the  state. 

Thirdly,  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  that  Christ  has  come  to  found 


,48  THE  CREED. 

shall  be  given  to  Peter;  and  lastly,  by  virtue  of  this  power  of  the 
keys,  whatsoever  he  shall  bind  or  loose  upon  earth  shall  likewise 
be  equally  bound  or  loosed  in  heaven. 

Peter,  in  other  words,  is  to  be  the  foundation  of  the  Church  for 
all  time;  not  only  solid  in  himself,  but  giving  solidity  and  perma- 
nence to  the  whole  building.  "For  all  time,"  I  say ;  and  this  is  plain 
from  the  very  idea  of  a  foundation.  Who  ever  heard  or  spoke  of  a 
temporary  foundation?  A  temporary  door,  a  temporary  roof  there 
may  be  to  a  building — but  a  temporary  foundation  would  be  an  ab- 
surdity. If  the  foundation  be  temporary,  the  whole  building  must 
needs  be  temporary,  and  will  have  to  come  down  to  be  built  up 
afresh  on  its  new  foundation.  But  Christ's  Church  is  a  permanent 
edifice — the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.  Like  the  house 
in  Our  Lord's  own  parable,  being  built  upon  a  rock,  it  will  stand  firm, 
though  the  rain  beat,  and  the  winds  blow,  and  the  sea  rage  against  it. 
To  suppose  that  only  for  his  own  life  time  was  Peter  to  be  the  foun- 
dation of  the  Church ;  to  hold  that  the  foundation  would  ever  be  re- 
moved while  the  world  should  last,  would  be  to  suppose  that  Our 
Lord's  work  was  not  to  last  beyond  the  years  of  Peter,  would  be  to 
go  against  the  clear  significance  of  the  whole  symbolism  here  used 
by  Our  Lord ;  would  be  to  reduce  to  an  empty  boast  of  permanence 
never  in  fact  to  be  realized,  and  to  take  all  the  meaning  out  of  one 
of  the  most  solemn  declarations  of  Jesus  that  the  Gospels  contain. 

Peter  is  to  hold  the  keys.  This,  in  nearly  every  civilized  time  and 
country,  has  ever  signified  the  possession  of  supreme  command. 
What  Peter  binds  and  looses  on  earth;  what  he  commands  or 
forbids,  all  his  acts  of  authority,  his  decisions,  his  rulings,  his 
government  in  general,  are  to  be  ratified  and  confirmed  by  God. 
"The  Jewish  way  of  using  the  words  binding  and  loosing 
for  'to  prohibit'  and  'to  permit,' "  honestly  admits  the  Protestant 
Dean  Alford,  "would  make  the  binding  and  loosing  belong  to  the 
power  of  legislation  in  the  Church"  (Greek  Testament,  abridged  ed., 
in  loco). 

Dear  brethren,  let  me  put  you  here  a  question,  to  which  we  shall 
return  again  shortly.  Do  you  think  that  Almighty  God  would  give 
such  powers  as  this  to  any  man ;  would  bind  Himself  to  confirm  all 
that  man's  official  acts,  and  yet  so  leave  that  man  without  Divine 
guidance  that  he  might  go  astray  and  make  mistakes  in  the  exercise 
of  his  office?  Would  not  God,  by  so  acting,  be  engaging  Himself 


INFALLIBILITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  AND  OF  THE  POPE.      249 

to  the  ratification  of  error  ?  You  must  answer — assuredly  He  would. 
But  that  God  can  not  do. 

Therefore  we  Catholics  hold  and  say  that  God  does  NOT  leave  the 
Head  of  His  Church  without  divine  guidance  in  his  official  acts — his 
official  acts,  notice  that — not  in  unofficial  and  private  acts.  We  say 
that  God  does  guide  the  Head  of  the  Church  in  his  official  public  acts ; 
guides  him  by  His  Holy  Spirit,  so  that  in  the  exercise  of  his  tre- 
mendous office,  he  is  preserved  from  error — and  that  is  what  we 
mean  when  we  speak  of  Papal  Infallibility. 

"What  do  you  mean,"  we  ask  our  children  in  the  catechism,  "when 
you  say  that  the  Pope  is  infallible  ?"  And  they  reply :  "When  I  say 
that  the  Pope  is  infallible,  I  mean  that  the  Pope  can  not  err,  when, 
as  Shepherd  and  Teacher  of  all  Christians,  he  defines  a  doctrine 
concerning  faith  or  morals,  to  be  held  by  the  whole  Church." 

III.  We  have  now  considered,  my  dear  brethren,  in  a  general 
way,  the  position  of  St.  Peter  as  the  permanent  foundation  of  the 
Church  Catholic.  We  have  seen  that  the  very  idea  of  that  position — 
the  position  of  a  solid  and  perpetual  foundation — necessarily  involves 
the  consequence  that  St.  Peter  must  have,  and  must  have  continu- 
ously, successors  in  his  office;  successors  in  the  persons  of  whom 
he  will  continue  to  be  the  Rock  upon  which  the  Church  is  built. 
Now  if  we  interrogate  Christian  antiquity  as  to  this  matter,  we  shall 
receive  a  clear  and  decided  answer.  The  successors  of  Peter,  the 
holders  of  Peter's  prerogatives  and  of  Peter's  powers,  those  in 
whose  persons  his  office  and  work  and  position  as  the  foundation 
are  continued,  are  none  other  than  his  successors  in  the  See  of  Rome. 
Thirty  years  after  the  death  of  St.  Peter,  a  dissension  arose  in  the 
Church  at  Corinth,  and  although  one  of  the  Apostles,  St.  John,  was 
still  alive,  we  find  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  St.  Clement,  intervening  to 
restore  peace.  He  writes  an  epistle  to  the  Corinthians:  he  speaks 
with  an  unmistakable  tone  of  authority.  "Do  you,"  he  writes,  "who 
laid  the  first  foundation  of  this  sedition,  submit  yourselves  unto  your 
priests ;  and  be  instructed  unto  repentance,  bending  the  knees  of  your 
hearts.  .  .  .  but  if  some  should  be  disobedient  unto  the  things 
spoken  from  Him  (i.  e.  Jesus  Christ)  through  us,  let  them  know 
that  they  shall  entangle  themselves  in  no  small  transgression  and 
danger"  (S.  Clement,  ist  Ep.  to  the  Corinthians.  Ch.  57  and  59). 

It  would  take  long  to  go  through  the  list  of  the  Bishops  of  Rome, 
and  to  show  how  they  were  consistently  regarded  by  the  whole  Chris- 
tian world  as  successors  of  St.  Peter  in  all  his  power  and  preroga- 


,je  THE  CREED. 

tives;  so  let  us  come  to  the  year  451.  St.  Leo  the  Great  then 
occupied  the  Throne  of  the  Fisherman.  The  Church  had  long  been 
troubled  by  the  heresy  of  Eutyches,  who  denied  that  there  are  two 
distinct  natures  in  Jesus  Christ,  each  with  its  own  proper  operations. 
A  general  council  of  the  whole  Church  was  called  together,  and 
six  hundred  Catholic  Bishops  met  at  Chalcedon. 

Who  presided  over  this  august  assembly  ?  Was  it  the  oldest  and 
most  venerable  of  the  Bishops  there  present?  No.  Four  strangers 
are  there  from  distant  Rome,  bearing  a  letter  from  Pope  Leo.  In 
this  letter  the  Pope  tells  the  assembled  Fathers  that  he  has  sent  two 
Bishops  and  two  Priests  to  represent  him;  and  that  they  are  to 
understand  that  he  himself,  through  his  legates,  is  presiding  at  this 
council.  Moreover,  he  tells  them  that  there  is  no  cause  for  them 
to  discuss  or  dispute  as  to  what  is  the  faith  of  the  Catholic  Church 
concerning  the  matter  in  hand,  since  he  himself  has  already  spoken 
and  judged  the  cause,  and  the  decision  will  presently  be  read  to  them 
by  the  legates.  It  was  read;  and  that  venerable  assembly  listened 
with  all  reverence  to  the  Pope's  definition  of  the  true  doctrine  of  the 
Incarnation,  and,  at  its  close,  all  cried  out  as  with  one  voice :  "This  is 
the  faith  of  the  Fathers."  "This  is  the  faith  of  the  Apostles."  "Peter 
hath  spoken  by  the  mouth  of  Leo." 

Dear  brethren,  I  might  multiply  instances  of  similar  occurrences. 
Are  we  to  say  that  they  were  due  to  innovation,  to  the  pride  and  arro- 
gance of  the  Bishops  of  Rome  seeking  to  dominate  over  their 
brethren?  If  so,  let  some  one  show  when  such  usurpation  of 
authority  began ;  let  it  be  shown  when  and  where  the  inevitable  oppo- 
sition that  such  usurpation  would  meet  with  on  every  side  was 
aroused.  But  this  can  not  be  done.  There  are,  it  is  true,  instances 
of  resistance  to  this  or  that  act  of  particular  Popes,  grounded  upon 
the  fact  of  the  supposition  that'  they  were  either  misinformed  or 
acting  outside  their  province  in  such  particular  instances ;  but  to  the 
principle  that  the  Bishop  of  Rome  is  the  successor  of  Peter,  that  he 
is  supreme  head  on  earth  of  the  Church  of  Christ,  and  that  he  is 
inerrant  in  his  official  teaching — to  this  there  is  no  opposition  except 
from  those  who  had  already  made  shipwreck  of  trie  faith  in  some 
other  point  of  doctrine,  and  who  we're  cast  out  of  the  Church 
Catholic  in  consequence  of  their  obstinacy  in  eri-or.  Had  the  posi- 
tion of  the  Popes  been  an  unjust  aggression  on  the  rights  of  Catholic 
Bishops,  it  would  have  been  they,  not'  interested  heretics,  who  would 
have  spoken  out  in  the  cause  of  truth  and  justice.  But  when  they 


INFALLIBILITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  AND  OF  THE  POPE.      251 

spoke,  it  was  to  the  same  effect  as  the  Fathers  of  Chalcedon.  St. 
Irenaeus,  Tertullian,  St.  Cyprian,  St.  Ambrose,  with  his  famous 
saying  "Where  Peter  is,  there  is  the  Church;"  St.  Augustine,  St. 
Jerome;  all  these  and  many  others,  men  who  would  have  been  the 
first  to  protest  against  an  unjust  assumption  of  spiritual  power,  speak 
of  the  Roman  Church  and  of  its  Bishops  in  terms  that  convey  no 
other  teaching  than  that  of  the  Vatican  Council  in  our  own  times. 

IV.  And  indeed,  dear  brethren,  it  is  not  difficult  to  show  that  the 
infallibility  of  the  Pope  is  what  we  may  call,  when  we  have  once 
granted  that  Jesus  Christ  established  a  visible  Church  and  gave  it  a 
visible  Head  upon  earth,  a  natural  consequence  of  these  two  facts. 

What  is  the  Church  for?  I  ask  you.  Is  it  not  for  the  salvation 
of  souls  ?  And  how  are  souls  to  be  saved  ?  They  are  to  be  saved  by 
loving  and  serving  Almighty  God.  But  none  can  love  and  serve 
God  who  knows  not  God,  who  knows  not  his  own  relations  to  God, 
and  God's  will  in  regard  to  that  service  which  His  creatures  owe  to 
Him.  Man,  then,  needs  a  teacher  who  will  tell  him  the  truth  about 
God,  about  his  own  soul,  and  about  the  service  which  God  demands 
of  him.  This  is  the  office  of  the  Church  established  by  Jesus  Christ. 
With  her  He  promised  to  be  "all  days,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world." 
To  her  He  promised  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  to  lead  her  into  all 
truth  (John  xiv,  16-26).  She  is,  St.  Paul  tells  us,  "the  pillar  and 
ground  of  the  truth."  To  her,  the  true  faith,  the  right  doctrine 
concerning  the  all  important  matters  of  which  I  have  just  spoken — 
God,  our  souls,  God's  service — are  a  matter  of  life  and  death.  Her 
own  action  through  the  ages  from  the  times  of  the  New  Testament 
itself,  show  that  she  has  never  had  any  doubt  of  her  right  and  her 
duty  to  suppress  error  at  its  first  uprising.  But,  I  ask  you,  with 
what  right  could  the  Church  do  this  if  it  were  possible  for  her  to 
err  in  matters  of  faith  ?  She  would  have  no  right.  But  that  right  she 
claims,  and  that  right  she  has.  The  promises  of  God  are  not  made 
void.  She  is  commissioned  to  teach  all  nations,  and  she  does  it  in 
perfect  confidence  with  serene  trust  in  the  Word  of  her  Master :  "Lo, 
I  am  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world." 

The  Church,  then,  by  virtue  of  the  very  work  which  she  has  to 
accomplish,  enjoys  that  inerrancy  in  teaching,  without  which  her 
work  would  be  completely  prostrated.  But  let  us  ask  what  such  in- 
errancy involves.  To  be  real  and  effective,  to  be  anything  more  than 
a  name,  it  must  involve  two  kinds  of  inerrancy  or  infallibility.  The 
Church  consists  of  two  classes  of  members — the  teachers  and  the 


2S2  THE   CREED. 

taught.  This  must  be  so,  in  the  nature  of  things.  "Go  ye,  and  teach 
all  nations,"  said  our  blessed  Lord.  There  must  be  those  who  teach, 
and  there  must  be  those  who  are  taught.  And,  in  order  that  Our 
Lord's  promise  "the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it"  may 
be  fulfilled,  not  only  must  the  teachers  be  free  from  error  in  their 
teaching,  but  the  taught  must  be  preserved  from  error  in  their 
belief.  There  are,  then,  two  kinds  of  inerrancy  or  infallibility — the 
active  infallibility,  as  we  may  term  it,  of  the  teachers,  and  the 
passive  infallibility  of  the  belief  of  the  faithful  at  large.  This  latter 
does  not  mean  that  individuals,  and  many  individuals,  can  not  fall 
into  error ;  but  it  means  that  the  Church  as  a  whole  will  ever  be 
preserved  from  a  general  and  universal  apostacy  from  the  truth. 
For  this  it  is  necessary  that  teachers  and  taught,  the  pastors  and  the 
faithful  at  large,  be  bound  together  in  their  faith  by  some  universal 
force  which  shall  secure  that  correspondence  in  faith  throughout 
the  whole  body  without  which  the  Church  would  not  be  a  united 
body  at  all,  without  which  she  would  fall  to  pieces,  without  which  she 
would  most  certainly  fall  a  prey  to  the  powers  of  hell  who  are  ever 
seeking  to  instill  falsity  into  the  minds  of  men  for  their  destruction. 
Now  what  is  this  universal,  unifying  force  that  keeps  together — 
this,  my  brethren,  is  a  living,  palpable  fact — keeps  together,  I  say,  so 
many  millions  of  Christians  to-day  in  one  heart  and  one  mind  upon 
the  highly  debateable  subjects  with  which  religion  is  concerned? 
Consider  the  matter,  for  a  moment,  from  the  morally  common-sense 
point  of  view.  How  does  any  society  of  men,  instituted  for  some 
special  purpose,  ensure  at  least  a  large  measure  of  unity  of  thought 
and  action  among  its  members  in  regard  to  the  objects  of  the 
society,  and  the  best  means  of  attaining  that  object?  It  is,  and  it 
can  only  be,  by  some  authoritative  voice,  whether  of  committee,  or 
president,  or  of  some  similar  organ  of  communication.  And,  I  ask 
you,  supposing  the  matters  with  which  such  a  society  deals  are  of 
such  paramount  importance,  so  nearly  concerning  the  very  life  and 
death,  the  peace  and  happiness  and  security  of  the  members  of  the 
society,  that  an  absolute  unity  of  idea  is  desirable,  how  could  such 
unity  be  brought  about?  The  members  of  a  committee  may  differ. 
When  the  matters  discussed  admit  of  some  compromise,,  then,  indeed, 
an  agreement  may  be  arrived  at  in  that  way.  But  supposing  that 
the  affairs  in  question  admit  of  no  compromise.  Then,  indeed, 
there  is  but  one  way  of  securing  complete  unity.  There  must  be  a 
spokesman  with  an  authoritative  voice,  whose  decisions  will  com- 


INFALLIBILITY  OF  THE  CHURCH  AND  OF  THE  POPE.      253 

mand  entire  confidence  and  unquestioning  obedience.  In  human 
affairs,  such  an  authority,  however  wise  and  well-informed,  will 
still  be  fallible.  But,  I  ask  you,  could  the  Divine  Founder  of  the 
Church,  considering  that  the  subject  of  the  Church's  teaching  con- 
cerns not  merely  life  and  death,  but  everlasting  salvation,  could  He, 
I  say,  have  chosen  a  more  fitting,  a  more  natural  way,  and  one 
better  adapted  to  the  nature  and  constitution  of  man,  than  the 
institution  of  a  supreme  head  with  infallible  authority  to  put  an  end 
to  all  disputes  and  controversies  by  his  utterances,  a  head  who 
should  voice  the  inerrant  teaching  of  the  body  at  large,  whose  deci- 
sions should  keep  in  the  unity  of  faith  pastors  as  well  as  people,  and 
secure  effectively  that  unity  in  belief  and  obedience  which  we  see, 
as  a  fact,  is  secured  in  the  Holy  Roman  and  Catholic  Church? 

Yes,  dear  brethren,  this  wonderful  unity  is  a  fact ;  and  a  fact  that 
can  be  accounted  for  in  one  way  only;  namely,  by  postulating  that 
God  has  chosen  a  center  of  unity  for  His  Church,  and  that  center  of 
unity  is  the  Holy  See  of  Rome,  whose  occupant,  as  successor  of  St. 
Peter,  carries  on  in  his  own  person  and  office  the  work  of  the 
Foundation,  the  Rock — Peter — upon  which  Jesus  Christ  has  built  His 
Church.  To  Peter  was  given  the  command  "Feed  my  lambs,  feed 
my  sheep"  (Matt,  xvi,  18,  19)  ;  to  Peter  it  was  said  "Confirm  thy 
brethren ;"  and,  relying  on  those  commands  and  upon  the  promise  of 
Jesus  Christ  "I  have  prayed  for  thee,  that  thy  faith  fail  not,"  the 
successors  of  Peter  with  inerrant  voice  feed  the  lambs  and  the  sheep 
of  Christ's  flock  with  sound  doctrine,  and  confirm  their  faith  against 
the  attacks  of  error  at  all  times  and  in  all  places.  What  reason  itself 
tells  us  would  be  the  most  effective  method  of  preserving  the  truth 
throughout  the  centuries,  revelation  tells  us  was  truly  the  means 
that  Our  Lord  actually  chose.  Certainly,  to  look  at  the  matter  from 
another  point  of  view,  if  Peter  is  the  solid,  unassailable  Rock,  giving 
stability  to  the  whole  building  of  Christ's  Church,  he,  and  his  suc- 
cessors in  whom  he  still  lives  and  acts,  must  be  preserved  from  all 
fear  of  error  in  their  teaching  of  religion. 

One  final  word,  my  dear  brethren,  as  to  the  meaning  and  scope  of 
this  inerrancy  or  infallibility..  The  Vatican  Council  has  in*  clear 
terms  defined  what  is  meant  by  Papal  Infallibility.  "We  declare  and 
define  .  .  .  that  the  Roman  Pontiff,  when  he  speaks  ex  cathedra, 
that  is,  when,  exercising  his  office  as  pastor  and  teacher  of  all  Chris- 
tians, by  virtue  of  his  supreme  Apostolic  authority  he  defines  a  doc- 
trine concerning  faith  or  morals  as  to  be  held  by  the  whole  Church, 


2$4  THE   CREED. 

then,  by  divine  assistance,  promised  to  him  in  the  person  of  the 
Blessed  Peter,  he  enjoys  that  same  infallibility  .  .  .  with  which 
the  divine  Redeemer  willed  His  Church  to  be  endowed." 

Infallibility,  then,  is  not  the  same  thing  as  inspiration.  It  belongs 
to  the  Church  and  the  Pope  in  virtue  of  a  "divine  assistance,"  guard- 
ing from  error  in  the  teaching  and  in  the  exposition  of  the  body 
of  truth  once  delivered  to  the  saints.  It  does  not  apply  to  any  and 
every  act  of  Pope  or  Church ;  but  to  teaching  concerning  faith  and 
morals;  finally,  it  applies,  according  to  the  words  of  the  sacred 
council,  when  a  doctrine  is  taught  as  binding  the  universal  Church — 
when  the  Pope  is  exercising  his  office  as  pastor  and  teacher  of  all 
Christians. 

If  people  would  only  study  the  Church's  own  presentment  of  her 
own  doctrines,  instead  of  taking  the  caricatures  of  them  so  often  put 
before  the  mind  of  man,  they  would  find  them  to  be  much  more  rea- 
sonable than  they  had  ever  supposed.  So  it  is  with  this  doctrine  of 
infallibility.  It  is  not  that  tremendous  assumption  which  it  is 
often  taken  to  be :  it  does  not  confer  upon  him  whose  prerogative  it 
is,  either  sinlessness  or  freedom  from  liability  to  error  in  everything 
he  may  speak  about,  nor  on  every  occasion  on  which  he  may  speak. 
It  is  simply  the  power  to  do  that  which  we  should  have  expected  Our 
Divine  Lord  to  have  provided  for — to  hand  down  from  age  to  age, 
unsullied  and  pure,  to  expound  correctly  and  interpret  rightly  the 
truth  that  makes  us  free,  the  truth  upon  which  our  salvation  de- 
pends, and  that  we  must  drink,  if  we  drink  at  all,  from  an  unpolluted 
channel  through  which  no  poison  of  error  can  reach  our  immortal 
souls. 


THE   PRIESTHOOD:   ITS   THREEFOLD   OFFICE. 


255 


XXX.    THE  PRIESTHOOD:  ITS  THREEFOLD  OFFICE. 

BY  THE  REV.  THOMAS  J.  GERRARD. 

"Thou  art  a  priest  forever." — Hebrews  v,  6. 

SYNOPSIS. — Introduction.— The  intrinsic  fitness  of  a  priesthood.  Men  of 
low  degree  in  approaching  men  of  high  degree,  like  to  have  an  inter- 
cessor. Natural,  then,  that  men  in  approaching  God  should  wish  to 
have  a  priest.  Christ  in  the  Incarnation  assumed  the  office  of  a  priest. 
The  priesthood  of  the  Catholic  Church  is  a  participation  of  Christ's 
priesthood.  To  Christ  then  we  must  go  to  learn  the  nature  of  our 
priesthood. 

Exposition. — I.  Christ  came  to  offer  sacrifice.  The  end  of  sacrifice: 
union  with  God,  and  reconciliation.  Christ,  as  a  member  of  the  human 
race,  offers  the  great  sacrifice.  Continues  it  in  heaven.  Makes  it  visible 
on  earth  through  the  ministry  of  priests.  Words  of  sacrifice  pronounced 
in  the  name  of  Christ.  Men  chosen  for  priests  in  order  that  they  may 
know  the  needs  of  men.  Ordination  confers  a  seal  which  can  never 
be  effaced.  Gives  jurisdiction  over  the  natural  Body  of  Christ. 

II.  Christ   came   to  forgive  sins.     He  would  apply   the  fruits  of 
His  sacrifice.      Throughout  His  ministry  He  exercised  the  power:  the 
Paralytic,  Magdalen,  woman  taken  in  adultery.   Friend  of  sinners.    Work 
continued  in  the  Sacrament  of  Penance.     Power  to  bind  and  loose;  to 
forgive  and   to   retain  sins.     Priest  is    (a)    judge,    (&)    physician,    (c) 
guide,  (d)  father. 

III.  Christ  came  to  preach  a  revelation.    Preached  by  deed  and  by 
word.     Gave  authority  to   the  priests  of  the  Church  to  preach.     They 
preached  in  His  name.    The  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit.     Their  mes- 
sage therefore  has  the  same  weight  as  if  He  delivered  it. 

Difficulties  answered. — Luther's  denial  of  sacrificial  priesthood:  a 
denial  of  the  great  prophecy  of  Malachi;  a  denial  of  the  eternal  priesthood 
of  Christ.  The  difficulty  as  to  the  power  of  man  to  forgive  sins  arises 
from  the  confusion  of  "primary"  and  "secondary"  minister;  and  ignores 
the  direct  commission  of  Christ.  The  objection  against  authoritative  and 
"apostolic"  preaching  ignores  Scripture  and  the  express  words  of  Christ. 

Never  in  the  history  of  mankind,  until  the  time  of  the  Reforma- 
tion, had  there  been  known  to  be  a  religion  without  a  priesthood. 
God  had  so  made  the  human  heart  and  soul  that  it  sought  for  Him 
as  for  its  supreme  satisfaction.  God  was  an  unseen  God.  Man 
was  a  thing  of  flesh  and  blood.  It  was  natural  therefore  that  men 
should  be  chosen  from  among  their  fellowmen,  who,  being  ac- 
quainted with  the  needs  of  mankind,  might  represent  those  needs 
before  God.  It  was  fitting  that  human  beings  who  could  talk  to 
human  beings  in  human  language  should  be  set  aside  to  treat  of 
things  between  God  and  men  and  to  dispense  God's  gifts  to  men. 


I 


256 


THE  CREED. 


1 


This  inherent  need  of  an  intercessor  is  noticeable  in  all  phases  of  life, 
where  those  of  low  degree  must  communicate  with  those  of  high 
degree.  A  child  wants  a  present  from  its  father,  and  it  begs  its 
mother  to  ask  the  father.  A  youth  leaving  school  for  business, 
although  he  may  have  confidence  in  his  abilities,  yet  feels  he  has 
better  chances  if  he  has  a  friend  to  speak  for  him.  Men  may  push 
their  way  into  social,  intellectual,  artistic,  or  political  circles,  but  they 
do  so  much  more  successfully  if  they  are  introduced  by  some  recog- 
nized member.  Naturally  then  when  men  wished  to  communicate 
with  the  mysterious  world  of  the  Great  Spirit  they  did  so  by  means 
of  a  chosen  priesthood. 

In  course  of  time  God  saw  fit  to  live  among  men  Himself.  He 
deigned  to  take  upon  Himself  the  form  of  man  and  as  the  God-man 
to  dwell  with  men.  Seeing  that  the  human  race  had  been  accus- 
tomed to  treat  with  Him  through  a  priesthood,  He  arranged  that 
He  in  His  Incarnation  should  be  clothed  also  with  a  priesthood.  He 
had  come  to  make  a  great  atonement  for  sin.  He  had  come  to  undo 
an  infinite  wrong.  To  this  end  a  priest  and  a  victim  of  infinite  value 
were  needed.  So  God  made  Himself  the  priest  and  the  victim  of  the 
sacrifice. 

The  priesthood  which  we  know  in  the  Catholic  Church  to-day  is 
derived  from  and  is  a  participation  in  that  priesthood  of  Christ.  To 
understand  therefore  the  nature  of  the  Catholic  priesthood  we  must 
ever  recur  to  its  exemplar,  the  priesthood  of  Christ.  From  that 
priesthood  we  learn  of  the  threefold  office :  to  offer  sacrifice,  to  for- 
give sins,  and  to  preach  the  revealed  Word  of  God.  The  sublime 
truth  which  is  realized  in  every  Catholic  priest  to-day  was  first 
spoken  of  Christ  Himself  in  the  great  Messianic  psalm :  "The  Lord 
hath  sworn  and  he  will  not  repent :  Thou  art  a  priest  forever  accord- 
ing to  the  order  of  Melchisedech." 

The  first  office  in  the  priesthood  of  Christ  is  to  offer  sacrifice. 
Theologians  have  differed  as  to  what  precisely  constitutes  a  sacrifice. 
But  all  are  agreed  in  this — that  it  is  a  rite  by  which  men  hold  com- 
munion with  God,  by  which  God's  supreme  dominion  over  men  is 
acknowledged,  and  by  which  those  who  have  offended  God  are  recon- 
ciled to  Him.  Now  since  all  men  had  sinned  in  Adam  there  was 
imperative  need  of  such  a  rite  of  reconciliation.  Spiritual  writers 
have  speculated  as  to  what  might  have  happened  if  Adam  had  not 
sinned.  Would  there  still  have  been  place  and  necessity  for  sacri- 
fice? Whatever  be  the  answer  to  this  question,  certain  it  is  that 


THE  PRIESTHOOD:  ITS  THREEFOLD  OFFICE.  257 

after  the  sin  there  was  even  greater  need  of  sacrifice.  We  have 
"therefore  a  great  high  priest,  that  hath  passed  into  the  heavens, 
Jesus,  the  Son  of  God." 

The  highpriest  of  the  law  entered  into  the  holy  of  holies  once  a 
year  to  offer  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice.  Christ  entered  into  the 
presence  of  His  eternal  Father  to  offer  the  sacrifice  of  His  own 
Blood.  The  sacrifice  of  Christ,  however,  was  not  for  Himself.  True 
He  was  tempted  in  all  things  like  as  we  are,  yet  without  sin;  and 
having  no  sin,  He  needed  no  expiation.  To  man,  therefore,  the 
value  of  Christ's  sacrifice  lay  in  the  fact  that  He,  together  with  the 
rest  of  men  made  up  one  family,  the  human  race.  The  disorder  of 
our  relationships  with  Almighty  God  was  to  be  dispelled  and  order 
restored  through  the  whole  race  making  atonement  and  satisfaction. 
Christ  being  a  member  of  the  race,  gave  to  it  this  power.  But  the 
race,  as  a  race,  was  bound  to  take  its  share  in  the  sacrifice  and  priest- 
hood of  Christ.  This  it  does  by  means  of  its  visible  priesthood.  The 
eternal  priesthood  of  Christ  in  heaven  is  made  visible  on  earth 
through  the  ministry  of  the  priests  of  the  Catholic  Church.  The  sac- 
rifice which  is  offered  on  earthly  altars  is  one  and  the  same  sacrifice 
as  that  offered  on  Calvary  and  continued  in  heaven.  It  is  carried,  as 
we  pray  in  the  Mass,  by  the  hands  of  God's  holy  angel  to  God's  altar 
on  high  in  the  sight  of  His  Divine  Majesty.  "For  every  highpriest 
taken  from  among  men  is  ordained  for  men  in  the  things  that  ap- 
pertain to  God,  that  he  may  offer  up  gifts  and  sacrifices  for  sins." 

Thus  it  is  that  when  the  priest  offers  the  sacrifice  he  does  not  do  so 
in  his  own  name.  For  the  time  being  he  virtually  puts  off  his  own 
personality  and  puts  on  that  of  Christ.  He  pronounces  the  words 
of  sacrifice,  but  they  are  not  his  own  words.  They  are  the  words 
of  Christ:  "This  is  my  body."  "This  is  the  chalice  of  my  blood." 
The  priest  is  Christ's  ambassador  and  representative.  As  he  speaks 
Christ's  words,  then  Christ  by  an  act  of  His  will  brings  about  that 
which  the  words  signify. 

This,  then,  is  the  first  duty  of  a  priest',  to  offer  sacrifice,  to  say 
Mass.  It  is  a  tremendous  dignity  and  responsibility.  We  might 
well  wonder  how  God  could  confide  such  a  work  to  mere  men.  The 
epistle  to  the  Hebrews  gives  us  the  reason.  Men  are  chosen  simply 
because  they  are  men.  He  who  is  to  stand  between  God  and  men 
must  know  what  it'  is  to  be  a  man.  He  must  know  by  experience 
something  of  man's  weakness  and  needs.  The  end  of  sacrifice  is 
union  with  God,  and  only  he  who  bends  low  can  enter  into  that 


asg  THE  CREED. 

communion.  So  every  high  priest  taken  from  among  men  is  one 
"who  can  have  compassion  on  them  that  are  ignorant  and  that  err: 
because  he  himself  is  compassed  with  infirmity.  And  therefore  he 
ought,  as  for  the  people,  so  also  for  himself,  to  offer  gifts  and  sacri- 
fices for  sins." 

One  of  the  most  important  ceremonies  in  the  ordination  service  is 
that  which  signifies  this  power.  It  is  called  the  tradition  of  the  instru- 
ments. A  chalice  with  wine  and  water,  and  a  paten  with  a  host  are 
placed  in  the  hands  of  the  candidate  while  the  Bishop  says :  "Receive 
power  to  offer  sacrifice  to  God,  to  celebrate  Masses  both  for  the 
living  and  the  dead."  The  Anglican  church  when  it  broke  away 
from  the  Catholic  Church  abolished  the  rite  of  handing  over  the 
chalice  and  paten.  And  so  when  the  question  of  the  Anglican  priest- 
hood was  tried  in  Rome,  this  wilful  omission  was  declared  to  be  a 
sign  of  change  of  intention.  By  doing  away  with  the  signs  of  sacri- 
fice itself,  the  Anglican  church  declared  its  intention  of  doing  away 
with  the  priesthood. 

In  contrast  to  this  the  Catholic  Church  teaches  that  by  ordination 
the  priest  is  configured  to  Christ.  His  soul  is  sealed.  A  mark  is 
made  on  the  powers  of  his  soul  which  is  light  to  his  understanding 
and  love  in  his  affections.  Just  as  a  lawyer  makes  a  deed  legal  by 
sealing  it  in  wax,  so  God  makes  a  priest,  stamping  him  with  a  char- 
acter. This  sets  him  aside  for  his  special  duties.  It  entitles  him  to 
participate  in  precisely  those  functions  of  the  priesthood  which 
Christ  came  on  earth  to  perform.  The  mark  remains  forever.  It  can 
never  be  effaced.  It  remains  always  either  to  the  glory  of  the  priest 
or  to  his  shame. 

"For  good  ye  are  and  bad,  and  like  to  coins, 
Some  true,  some  light,  but  every  one  of  you 
Stamped  with  the  image  of  the  King." 

TENNYSON. 

Thus  far  we  have  considered  what  is  known  as  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  priest  over  Christ's  natural  body.  Next  we  come  to  consider 
what  is  known  as  the  jurisdiction  of  the  priest  over  Christ's  mystical 
body,  his  power  to  forgive  sins.  The  sacrifice  of  Christ  meant  pri- 
marily the  worship  of  God.  But  it  implies  also  and  in  consequence 
remission  of  sin;  for  repentance  from  sin  is  an  act  of  worship. 
Contrition  is  the  return  of  a  perverted  will  toward  God.  The  rela- 
tion of  sin  to  the  Incarnation  is  very  intimate  indeed.  The  Church 


THE  PRIESTHOOD:  ITS  THREEFOLD  OFFICE.  259 

speaks  of  the  sin  of  Adam  as  a  fruitful  and  even  needful  fault,  since 
it  was  the  occasion  of  the  coming  of  so  good  and  so  great  a  Redeemer. 
The  sweetest  name  of  the  Redeemer  is  that  which  associates  him 
with  men  as  their  sin-bearing-Jesus — God  the  Saviour.  "Behold  the 
lamb  of  God,  behold  him  who  beareth  the  sins  of  the  world."  Again 
Isaias  foretold  of  Him :  "The  Lord  hath  laid  on  him  the  iniquity  of 
us  all." 

This,  then  was  the  second  great  office  of  His  priesthood,  to  apply 
the  fruits  of  His  sacrifice  to  our  individual  souls.  By  the  great  sacri- 
fice the  purchase  value  of  our  souls  had  been  provided.  There 
everything  was  ready  for  the  satisfaction  of  eternal  justice.  But 
the  merit  had  to  be  applied  to  each  sinful  soul.  During  Our  Lord's 
life  on  earth,  He  exercised  this  power  on  many  occasions.  He  healed 
the  sick,  and  fed  the  hungry,  and  bestowed  temporal  gifts  in  abun- 
dance ;  but  at  the  same  time  He  used  these  events  as  opportunities  of 
undoing  sin.  The  paralytic  came  with  his  malady.  Our  Lord  cured 
it ;  but  at  the  same  time  He  said :  "Thy  sins  are  forgiven  thee."  The 
Samaritan  woman  talked  with  Him  by  the  well.  He  read  her  heart 
and  accused  her  of  her  past  life ;  but  not  without  assuring  her  of  the 
fountain  of  water  springing  up  into  life  everlasting.  He  took  the 
part  of  Magdalen  against  Simon  and  said  of  her:  "Many  sins  are 
forgiven  her  because  she  hath  loved  much."  To  the  sorrowing  thief 
on  the  cross  He  said :  "This  day  thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  Paradise." 
Likewise  with  the  woman  taken  in  adultery.  Our  Lord  bent  down 
and  wrote  the  sins  of  her  accusers  in  the  dust.  No  one  dared  con- 
demn her.  "Neither  will  I  condemn  thee,"  said  Our  Lord,  "go,  and 
now  sin  no  more."  Indeed  so  constant  and  insistent  was  Our  Lord  in 
the  exercise  of  His  priestly  office  of  absolving  from  sins,  that  He 
gained  for  Himself  the  title  of  friend  of  publicans  and  sinners. 
What  was  intended  for  a  scoff  was  in  reality  a  testimony  to  His  mis- 
sion. "They  that  are  in  health  need  not  a  physician,  but  they  that  are  I 
ill.  ...  I  am  not  come  to  call  the  just,  but  sinners."  * 

It  was  only  fitting  then  that  Christ,  when  He  left  this  earth, 
should  invest  His  earthly  priesthood  with  the  same  power  of  for- 
giving sins.  Just  as  He  had  given  them  power  over  His  natural 
body  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  so  now  He  gives  them  power  over 
His  mystical  body,  the  Church.  Their  priesthood  is  the  representa- 
tion of  His  priesthood  in  heaven.  If  a  brother  were  to  offend  against 
a  brother,  the  injured  one  must  try  kind  words.  If  this  did  not 
avail  he  must  seek  for  arbitration  before  two  or  three  witnesses. 


a6o  THE  CREED. 

Failing  in  this,  he  must  have  recourse  to  the  Church.  The  Church 
is  the  continuation  of  Christ's  work  on  earth.  To  His  disciples  He 
said :  "Amen  I  say  to  you,  whatsoever  you  shall  bind  on  earth  shall 
be  bound  also  in  heaven ;  and  whatsoever  you  shall  loose  upon  earth 
it  shall  be  loosed  also  in  heaven." 

The  power  of  binding  and  loosing  was  more  particularly  defined 
by  Our  Lord  shortly  after  His  Resurrection.  The  disciples  were 
gathered  together  in  a  room  for  fear  of  the  Jews.  Our  Lord  came 
and  stood  in  the  midst  of  them,  showing  them  the  marks  of  His 
glorified  wounds.  As  He  had  been  sent  from  the  Father  to  take 
away  the  sins  of  the  world,  so  they  must  be  sent  from  Him  to  take 
away  the  sins  of  the  world.  They  were  to  be  filled  with  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  so  as  to  be  able  to  act  in  the  name  and  person  of  Christ.  In 
signification  of  this  Christ  breathed  on  them  and  said  to  them :  "Re- 
ceive ye  the  Holy  Ghost.  Whose  sins  you  shall  forgive  they  are  for- 
given them ;  and  whose  sins  you  shall  retain  they  are  retained."  In 
the  rite  of  ordination  therefore  these  words  are  repeated  by  the 
bishop  as  he  lays  his  hands  on  the  priest. 

The  power  of  binding  and  loosing  makes  the  priest  a  judge  of  the 
penitent.  He  is,  however,  something  much  more.  He  is  physi- 
cian, guide  and  father.  As  a  physician  the  priest  diagnoses  the 
moral  disease.  He  seeks  out  the  cause  and  provides  a  remedy 
against  relapse. 

As  a  guide  the  priest  is  the  source  of  ecclesiastical  and  canonical 
information.  All  people  are  bound  by  the  laws  of  their  respective 
countries.  But  they  can  not  all  be  expected  to  be  experts  in  the 
knowledge  of  law.  They  must  as  occasion  demands  have  recourse 
to  recognized  lawyers.  Likewise  all  men  are  bound  by  the  laws  of 
God,  whether  those  laws  be  natural,  divine,  or  ecclesiastical.  But  all 
men  can  not  be  supposed  to  have  an  intimate  knowledge  of  those 
laws.  Therefore  is  it  that  the  priest  is  equipped  with  this  knowledge 
which  may  be  sought  from  him  in  the  confessional.  "The  lips  of 
the  priest  shall  keep  knowledge,  and  they  shall  seek  the  law  at  his 
mouth :  because  he  is  the  angel  of  the  Lord  of  hosts." 

The  perfection  of  the  office  of  confessor  is  the  character  of  father- 
hood. As  judge  and  physician  the  priest  may  have  unpleasant  duties 
to  perform  which  of  themselves  make  confession  difficult.  As  guide 
he  may  have  disagreeable  information  to  give.  But  as  father  he  is 
all  charity.  It  is  a  happy  development  of  Catholic  custom  in  these 
days  for  all  priests  to  be  called  "father."  The  late  Cardinal  Man- 
ning used  to  count  it  one  of  the  greatest  joys  of  his  life  when  any  one, 


THE  PRIESTHOOD:  ITS  THREEFOLD  OFFICE.  261 

not  recognizing  his  dignity,  addressed  him  as  "father."  And  so 
when  he  had  occasion  to  write  on  the  subject,  he  spoke  as  follows: 
"The  title  of  father  is  the  first,  the  chief,  the  highest,  the  most 
potent,  the  most  persuasive,  the  most  honorable  of  all  the  titles  of  a 
priest.  He  may  receive  from  the  world  and  from  its  fountains  of 
honor  many  names,  from  the  schools  of  learning  many  degrees, 
from  the  ecclesiastical  law  many  dignities;  but  none  has  so  deep 
and  so  high  a  sense  as  'father,'  and  none  but  the  spiritual  fatherhood 
will  pass  into  eternity." 

Besides  the  offering  of  sacrifice  and  the  remission  of  sins,  Our 
Lord  came  to  reveal  the  eternal  and  invisible  God.  This  He  did  by 
His  life  and  by  His  preaching.  St.  Luke,  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Acts,  tells  us  that  Jesus  first  began  to  do  and  then  to  teach.  Preach- 
ing by  deed  and  by  word  was  the  means  by  which  Christ  drew  men 
to  penance  and  to  sacrifice.  Thus,  in  His  Galilean  ministry,  speak- 
ing in  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth,  He  claimed  this  office  as  a  ful- 
filment of  the  prophecy  of  Isaias.  "The  spirit  of  the  Lord  is  upon 
me.  Wherefore  he  hath  anointed  me  to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the 
poor,  he  hath  sent  me  to  heal  the  contrite  of  heart,  to  preach  deliv- 
erance to  the  captives,  and  sight  to  the  blind,  to  set  at  liberty  them 
that  are  bruised,  to  preach  the  acceptable  year  of  the  Lord,  and  the 
day  of  reward."  And  the  people  wondered  at  the  words  of  grace 
that  proceeded  from  His  mouth.  So,  too,  again,  after  His  sermon  on 
the  mount,  when  He  had  ended  His  words,  "the  people  were  in 
admiration  at  his  doctrine.  For  he  was  teaching  them  as  one  hav- 
ing power,  and  not  as  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees." 

Just  before  His  Ascension,  Christ  gave  this  preaching  power  to 
His  disciples.  Moreover,  He  associated  the  preaching  with  the  sacri- 
fice and  the  remission  of  sins.  "Thus  it  is  written,  and  thus  it 
behooved  Christ  to  suffer,  and  to  rise  again  from  the  dead  the  third 
day :  And  that  penance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in 
his  name,  unto  all  nations  beginning  at  Jerusalem."  The  disciples 
are  not  sent  on  their  own  authority.  They  are  but  the  instruments 
of  Christ.  Christ  speaks  first  of  His  own  supreme  power.  "All  power 
is  given  to  me  in  heaven  and  earth."  Then,  by  virtue  of  that  power, 
He  gives  His  disciples  their  commission :  "Going  therefore,  teach  ye 
all  nations ;  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the 
Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  Teaching  them  to  observe  all  things 
whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you:  and  behold  I  am  with  you  all 
clays  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world."  The  presence  here 
spoken  of  was  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  The  Holy  Spirit 


i62  THE  CREED. 

would  guide  them  unto  all  truth.  Their  message  therefore  must  have 
all  the  authority  as  if  it  were  spoken  from  the  lips  of  Christ  Himself. 
"Go  ye  into  the  whole  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature." 
So  imperative  was  the  sanction  of  their  authority,  that  Christ  would 
make  it  more  tolerable  for  Sodom  than  for  the  city  that  would 
refuse  to  receive  them.  "He  that  heareth  you,  heareth  me ;  and  he 
that  despiseth  you  despiseth  me ;  and  he  that  despiseth  me  despiseth 
him  that  sent  me." 

The  most  widespread  objection  against  the  priesthood  is  that  which 
was  started  by  Luther  at  the  Reformation.  Its  main  idea  is  a  denial 
of  the  Catholic  priesthood  in  the  strict  sense  in  which  we  have  tried 
to  explain  it.  The  word  "priest"  was  sometimes  retained,  but  its  true 
meaning  was  denied.  The  reformers  rejected  all  idea  of  priesthood 
which  implied  the  offering  of  sacrifice.  If  such  a  contention  were 
true  then  we  must  believe  that  the  great  prophecy  of  Malachi  has 
not  been  fulfilled:  "For  from  the  rising  of  the  sun  even  unto  the 
going  down,  My  Name  is  great  among  the  Gentiles,  and  in  every 
place  there  is  sacrifice,  and  there  is  offered  to  My  Name  a  clean 
oblation :  for  My  Name  is  great  among  the  Gentiles,  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts."  Neither  would  there  be  any  meaning  in  the  words  of  the 
Psalmist :  "Thou  art  a  priest  forever  according  to  the  order  of  Mel- 
chisedech."  The  priesthood  of  Melchisedech  was  one  that  offered 
sacrifice  in  bread  and  wine.  And  in  this  sense  the  words  are  re- 
peated by  Our  Lord  Himself,  as  also  by  the  author  of  the  epistle  to 
the  Hebrews.  The  Eucharist  was  clearly  a  sacrificial  rite.  And  if 
the  Eucharist  is  a  sacrifice,  then  the  minister  of  it  is  a  priest  in 
the  strict  sense  of  the  term. 

The  common  objection  against  the  priestly  power  of  forgiving 
sins  is  invariably  based  on  a  misunderstanding  of  the  Catholic  doc- 
trine. "How  can  a  man  forgive  sins  ?"  "God  alone  can  forgive  sins !" 
These  are  the  expressions  which  we  hear  so  frequently  on  the  lips 
of  our  non-Catholic  friends.  The  explanation  is  very  simple.  The 
Catholic  Church  does  not  teach  that  the  priest  is  the  chief  minister 
in  the  Sacrament  of  Penance.  He  is  only  the  secondary  minister. 
He  is  but  the  mouthpiece  of  Christ.  Whenever  he  pronounces  the 
words  of  absolution  he  expressly  refers  them  to  the  authority  of 
Christ  and  the  Blessed  Trinity:  "By  His  authority  I  absolve  thee 
from  all  bond  of  excommunication  and  interdict  in  so  far  as  I  can 
and  in  so  far  as  thou  needest  it.  (Then)  I  absolve  thee  from  thy 
sins  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost." 


THE  PRIESTHOOD:  ITS  THREEFOLD  OFFICE.  263 

The  general  objection  against  the  exclusive  right  of  preaching  the 
Gospel  is  that  put  forward  by  the  sects  of  nonconformists.  The 
only  juridical  qualification  for  a  minister  or  preacher  seems  to  be  that 
he  must  be  able  to  get  some  one  to  listen  to  him.  Rejecting  the 
episcopal  form  of  church  government,  they  have  recourse  to  a  "call" 
from  a  body  of  worshipers.  The  minister  so  called  is  accepted  by 
the  neighboring  ministers,  a  "recognition  service"  is  held,  and  hands 
are  laid  on  him.  But  there  is  no  claim  made  of  the  rite  being  a  Sac- 
rament conferring  grace ;  nor  yet  is  there  any  pretence  to  the  char- 
acter of  "once  a  minister  always  a  minister." 

Against  this  it  is  answered  that  from  the  very  beginning  of  Chris- 
tianity there  has  always  been  a  sharp  distinction  between  the  Church 
which  teaches  and  the  Church  which  is  taught.  Thus,  after  Our 
Lord's  Ascension,  St.  Peter  called  upon  the  Church  to  choose  an 
Apostle  in  the  place  of  Judas,  "to  take  the  place  of  this  ministry 
and  Apostleship,  from  which  Judas  hath  by  transgression  fallen. 
.  .  .  And  they  gave  them  lots,  and  the  lot  fell  upon  Matthias, 
and  he  was  numbered  with  the  eleven  Apostles.  It  is  written  of  St. 
Paul  and  St.  Barnabas  that  when  they  went  to  Lystra,  Iconium,  and 
Antioch,  "they  ordained  to  them  priests  in  every  church."  St.  Paul 
in  his  letter  to  Timothy  speaks  expressly  of  the  grace  conferred  by 
the  laying  on  of  hands.  "Neglect  not  the  grace  that  is  in  thee,  which 
was  given  thee  by  prophecy,  with  the  imposition  of  the  hands  of  the 
priesthood."  The  passages  of  Scripture  show  that  the  Apostles  who 
were  sent  to  preach  to  the  whole  world  were  intended  to  pass  on 
that  power  to  their  successors.  It  was  not  sufficient  that  the  preacher 
should  feel  some  mystical  movement  within  himself ;  nor  yet  that  he 
should  have  a  following  of  people  who  agreed  with  him ;  but  he  must 
be  approved  and  sent  by  the  Church  founded  by  Christ.  "How  shall 
they  hear  without  a  preacher?  And  how  shall  they  preach  unless 
they  be  sent?" 

This,  then,  is  the  priesthood.  To  this  sublime  office  men,  not 
angels,  have  been  called.  In  the  exercise  of  this  office  the  priest 
becomes  another  Christ,  since  like  Christ  he  must  offer  sacrifice, 
the  spotless  sacrifice  of  Calvary;  he  must  forgive  sin  by  the  power 
of  Christ ;  he  must  teach  the  doctrine  of  Christ.  Our  people  know 
this  and  hence  in  reverencing  the  priest  they  know  and  feel  that  they 
are  honoring  and  reverencing  Christ  Himself,  who  in  His  love  and 
mercy  gave  us  His  priesthood,  and  gives  us  the  priest  to  be  our 
Father,  our  guide,  our  friend.  To  this  same  Christ  be  honor  and 
glory  forever  and  ever.  Amen. 


THE  CREED. 


XXXI.  THE  PROPAGATION  AND  PRESERVATION  OF 
THE  CHURCH. 

BY  THE  REV.  JOHN  FREELAND. 

SYNOPSIS.— I.  The  small  beginnings  of  the  Church  of  Christ.     The  death 
of  Our  Lord  seemed  to  have  rendered  success  quite  hopeless. 

II.  The  natural  disadvantages  from  which  the  work  would  appear 
bound  to  collapse,  (a)  The  Apostles  were  unlettered  men.    (&)  Their  ad- 
versaries in  the  Roman  Empire  were  very  learned  and  very  cultured. 
(c)    The  Christian  doctrine  was   opposed   to   the  allurements  and   the 
pleasures  of  the  world,   (d)  At  no  time  as  then  have  those  very  plea- 
sures been  regarded  as  offering  the  highest  good. 

III.  The  hostility  of  the  Roman  State,    (a)  The  ten  persecutions,  in 
which  every  cruelty  was  practised  against  the  faithful.   (&)   The  gentle- 
ness of  the  Christians  under  this  nerce  opposition,    (c)  Nevertheless,  it  is 
the  religion  of  the  unlettered,  the  poor,  and  the  gentle  that  triumphs. 

IV.  God  not  only  gave  life  to  the  Church,  but  preserves  that  life. 
(a)  Diseases  to  the  health  of  the  Church's  life  in  the  shape  of  schisms, 
and  their  disappearance,    (b)  The  youth  of  the  .Church.    Her  great  age. 
How  she  has  seen  the  end  of  institutions  of  which  she  saw  the  com- 
mencement,    (c)  Her  youth  and  great  age  maintained  in  spite  of  con- 
tinual opposition. 

V.  In  history  she  forms  the  one  bright  spot  where  darkness  reigned. 
The  blessings  she  brought  to  Europe,  (a)  learning,  witnessed  to  by  the 
universities,   (b)   brotherly  love,  by  the  guilds,   (c)   general  civilisation. 
Yet,  during  all  this  time  she  was  being  opposed  by  kings  and  nobles. 

VI.  In  spite  of  everything  she  still  lives  and  nourishes,     (a)   The 
unity  among  her  ministers,    (b)    The  enthusiasm  among  her  members. 
(c)    Scenes  of  piety  to  be  witnessed  among  her  laity  alone,     (d)   The 
spirit  of  the  early  martyrs  still  exists. 

VII.  The  divine  hand  that  created  her,  has  also  preserved  her. 

Nothing  could  have  well  appeared  more  hopeless  than  the  affairs 
of  the  religion  of  Christ  on  that  first  day  of  Pentecost  when  St. 
Peter  arose  in  the  city  of  Jerusalem  to  give  utterance  to  his  opening 
discourse.  The  Divine  Founder  had  left  it  without  His  visible 
presence.  The  last  of  Him  seen  by  the  Jewish  people  was  His 
crucifixion.  He  had  died  between  two  thieves,  surrounded  by  a 
crowd  in  whom  the  hatred  of  the  whole  human  race  seemed  to  have 
become  centralized.  As  He  was  borne  away  to  the  tomb  which 
the  kindly  offices  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea  had  provided,  it  was 
thought,  and  with  apparent  reason,  that  the  last  had  been  heard 
of  "that  Prophet  who  had  come  into  this  world."  He  was  dead; 
His  followers  had  been  dispersed;  the  beginnings  of  the  new  reli- 
gious movement  had  been  taken  up  by  the  roots;  the  thing  had 


PROPAGATION  AND  PPESERVATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.    265 

come  completely  to  an  end.  Thus  it  must  have  appeared  to  all.  But 
men  forgot,  as  men  do  forget,  that,  when  affairs  have  the  gloomiest 
outlook,  then  God  most  of  all  delights  to  show  and  to  make  mani- 
fest His  power. 

Almost  every  feature  connected  with  the  commencement  of  the 
Christian  religion  is  of  a  miraculous  kind.  Twelve  poor  men,  with- 
out culture,  with  very  little  knowledge  as  the  world  understands  the 
term,  speaking  with  an  accent  the  despised  dialect  of  Galilee,  stood, 
on  the  first  Pentecost  day,  before  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem  to 
preach  to  them  "Christ  and  Him  crucified."  For  forty  days  previous 
to  this  they  had  been  in  concealment,  afraid;  now,  suddenly,  their 
fears  are  gone,  they  openly  accuse  those  of  whom  they  had  but 
recently  been  in  such  terror  of  putting  to  death  the  Lord  of  Glory, 
and,  calling  on  them  to  repent,  they  tell  them  that  there  is  no  other 
name  under  heaven  by  which  men  are  to  be  saved  except  that  of  Him 
whom,  but  a  few  weeks  before,  they  had  crucified. 

And  the  people  who  would  not  listen  to  the  gentle  pleadings  of  the 
Master  now  eagerly  drink  in  every  word  of  the  accusations  made  by 
the  disciple.  They  obey  the  call  to  penance  to  the  number  of  five 
thousand  and  are  baptized. 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  Catholic  Church,  so  far  as  its  active 
propagation  is  concerned.  From  that  day,  irresistibly,  she  went  on 
increasing  in  extent.  Before  St.  Paul  had  come  to  die  he  could  say 
that  the  preacher  of  the  Gospel  had  gone  forth  into  the  whole  world ; 
before  a  century  had  passed,  a  pagan  writer,  in  mentioning  the  fol- 
lowers of  Christ,  could  describe  them  as  a  vast  multitude;  and, 
before  two  hundred  years  had  flown  by  after  the  sad  event  which  took 
place  on  Mount  Calvary,  one  Christian  writer  could  assert  that 
Christians  were  to  be  found  over  the  whole  world,  while  another 
could  say  that  they  filled  the  market  places  of  Rome  itself,  occupying 
positions  in  the  army,  in  the  senate,  even  in  the  court  of  Caesar. 
Paganism  had  been  left  nothing  but  its  temples. 

Looked  at  from  a  natural  point  of  view,  Christianity  had  every- 
thing against  it ;  and,  regarded  from  the  same  standpoint,  paganism, 
which  after  three  centuries  lay  prostrate,  defeated  in  its  fierce 
struggle  with  the  religion  of  Christ,  had  had  all  things  capable  of 
ensuring  it  victory.  At  no  time  have  enlightenment  and  culture  stood 
higher  than  they  did  under  the  Roman  emperors.  Civilization  had 
reached  its  culminating  degree.  Art,  even  long  before  this  period, 
had  attained  to  an  excellence  which  has  hardly  ever  since  been  ap- 


266  THE  CREED. 

preached,  not  to  say  surpassed.  The  literature  of  ancient  Rome,  to- 
gether with  that  of  Greece,  was  of  so  perfect  a  nature  that,  across 
the  ages  down  to  our  own  times,  Plato  and  Homer,  Cicero  and  Virgil, 
as  well  as  a  host  of  others,  have  kept  their  place  as  examples  of 
what  polite  literature  in  style  and  in  beauty  of  expression  ought  to 
be. 

What  had  the  Apostles  and  the  early  Christians  t'o  offer  in  oppo- 
sition to  this  learning  with  its  finish  of  style  and  beauty  of  diction  ? 
Those  first  heralds  of  the  Gospel  and  members  of  the  Catholic 
Church  had  none  of  the  wisdom  of  the  world,  and,  as  society  reckons 
learning,  no  learning.  St.  Paul  himself  says  that  among  the  follow- 
ers of  Christ  there  were  not  many  wise,  not  many  learned,  not  many 
imbued  with  the  knowledge  of  the  philosophy  of  the  days  in  which 
they  lived.  They  had  a  doctrine  to  offer;  but  it  was  a  doctrine 
which  went  directly  against  three-fourths  of  those  things  which  are 
the  dearest  to  human  nature,  and  which  even  severely  censured  most 
of  the  habits  which  had  the  society  of  that  day  so  firmly  within  their 
grasp.  The  process  of  breaking  with  such  habits  would  be  a  very 
painful  one.  To  an  age  in  which  self  had  been  elevated  to  the 
rank  of  a  God,  the  Christian  and  Catholic  religion  preached  self- 
denial.  To  a  people  with  whom  every  kind  of  pleasure  had  been 
made  to  appear  not  only  delectable  but  commendable  it  is  said  that 
mortification  and  discomfort  formed  the  better  way.  How  could 
such  a  religion  hope  naturally  to  make  progress?  With  their  con- 
tinual cry  of  "Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand,"  with  their 
"Do  penance,"  with  their  "mortify  the  deeds  of  the  flesh,"  how 
could  the  first  exponents  of  our  holy  faith  expect  to  make  the 
Cross  of  Christ  march  forward,  when  the  people  to  whom  they  said 
these  things  considered  that  only  to  be  good  which  gave  the  greatest 
bodily  pleasure,  and  that  to  be  virtue  which  was  vice,  very  often  in 
its  most  degrading  forms  ?  Nevertheless,  the  victory  remained  with 
the  Apostles.  The  poor  teachers  overcame  the  wise  philosophers. 
The  rugged  and  weary  path  of  virtue  became  far  more  attractive  to 
the  multitude,  than  all  the  ease  and  the  allurements  offered  by  the 
broad  road  of  vice.  As  one  of  the  greatest  Fathers  of  the  Church  has 
argued,  either  miracles,  wrought  by  the  power  of  Christ  using  the 
instrumentality  of  the  ministers  and  members  of  the  infant  Church, 
are  responsible  for  its  wonderful  progress,  or  that  progress  happened 
without  a  miracle ;  and  if  the  latter  alternative  were  the  true  one 
then  the  growth  and  the  propagation  of  the  religion  of  Christ  are 


PROPAGATION  AND  PRESERVATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.    267 

stupendous  miracles  in  themselves.  They  can  not  be  explained 
unless  by  admitting  that  God  was  secretly  and  silently  at  work  so  as 
to  ensure  success.  Never  was  an  end,  great,  startling,  contrary  to 
every  earthly  expectation,  so  surely  accomplished  without  the  help 
of  human  means  as  this  was.  It  was  the  triumph  of  the  weak  over 
the  strong,  of  the  small  over  the  great,  of  the  insignificant  over  the 
grand  and  the  mighty.  It  was  the  miracle  of  the  sheep  rending  to 
pieces  the  wolf,  to  use  the  comparison  of  Chryso'stom. 

The  propagation  of  the  faith  would  have  borne  all  the  marks  of 
divinity  even  had  it  been  hampered  only  by  the  disadvantages  to 
which  we  have  alluded;  but  what  must  strike  the  mind  more  than 
any  other  feature  of  this  subject  is,  that  the  advance  was  made  in 
the  face  of  the  crudest  opposition  known  in  history.  Paganism 
decreased  and  Christianity  increased  just  then  when  every  torment 
which  human  ingenuity  could  advise  was  used  in  the  fiercest  manner 
possible  against  the  new  faith.  Ten  persecutions  swept  over  the 
Catholic  Church,  each  one  more  violent  than  the  last.  The  perse- 
cutors had  determined  that  there  should  be  an  end  to  this  "super- 
stition" as  they  called  the  doctrine  of  Christ.  For  three  centuries  the 
prisons  were  never  closed,  the  instruments  of  torture  never  idle, 
against  the  believer.  The  wild  beast  was  fed  upon  his  flesh;  the 
cross  sustained  him  as  its  most  usual  burden.  Earth,  air,  fire,  and 
water  were  hired  without  ceasing  to  afford  the  means  by  which, 
in  the  shape  of  a  fearful  death,  adherents  to  the  religion  of  Christ 
might  be  killed  outright,  and  thus  an  end  brought  about  to  the  de- 
tested Christian.  Instead  of  this  it  was  paganism  that  collapsed. 
Reddened  with  its  own  blood  the  Catholic  Church  only  stood  out 
grander  and  assumed  larger  proportions,  and  the  persecution  which 
was  meant  to  retard  it's  progress  had  the  effect  of  making  it  start 
forward  with  leaps  and  bounds. 

This  strange  event  would,  perhaps,  lose  something  of  its  mystery 
had  the  members  of  the  Church  offered  resistance  to  their  tormentors, 
had  they  taken  life  for  life,  or  had  they  answered  persecution  with 
some  kind  of  persecution  in  return.  Yet  the  very  opposite  feature 
in  their  conduct  is  what  impresses  us  most.  From  St.  Stephen  down 
to  the  latest  of  the  martyrs  there  is  one  continual  prayer  for  their 
persecutors.  When  apprehended  there  is  no  attempt  made  to  make 
reprisals.  There  is  no  wish  displayed  to  sell  their  life  dearly,  as  the 
expression  goes.  There  is  no  ill  will  treasured  up  among  the  sur- 
vivors of  the  community,  leading  any  one  of  them  to  wreak  vengeance 


268 


THE  CREED. 


at  the  first  opportunity  on  those  who  had  cruelly  put  one  of  their 
brethren  to  death.  These  Christians  were  remarkable  for  a  sweet- 
ness of  disposition.  They  were,  in  so  many  cases,  tortured  while  a 
hymn  was  upon  their  lips  and  a  prayer  was  being  formed  upon  their 
tongue;  and,  like  their  divine  Master,  they  were  really  led  like  a 
lamb  to  the  slaughter,  and,  as  a  sheep  dumb  before  its  shearers, 
they  opened  not  their  mouth. 

By  the  use  of  such  strange  and  apparently  inadequate  means  did 
the  Catholic  Church  finds  herself  in  possession  of  the  whole  civilized 
world.  It  was  as  one  of  the  prophets  had  foretold  that  it  should  be : 
"Not  by  armies,  not  by  the  host,  but  by  my  Spirit  saith  the  Lord."  A 
divine  power  was  with  the  Church.  God  was  on  her  side.  He  was 
true  to  His  promises ;  and  His  promises  had  been  that  the  gates  of 
hell  should  not  prevail  against  her;  that  the  Spirit  of  truth  should 
abide  with  her,  that  He  would  be  with  her  always,  and  that  she  should 
be  as  a  rock  which  breaks  to  pieces  all  it  falls  upon,  while  all  that 
dashes  upon  it  lies  crushed  and  shattered,  leaving  the  rock  itself 
uninjured. 

Little,  however,  would  have  been  the  advantage,  had  not  the  com- 
mencement and  the  propagation  of  the  Church  been  a  divine  work, 
and  the  preservation  and  the  continuance  of  it  not  equally  divine. 
All  forms  of  life  have  their  particular  dangers  arising  from  within 
the  system  itself.  From  the  commencement  up  to  the  end  there  is  a 
perpetual  contest  between  health,  the  great  general  of  the  forces  of 
life,  and  disease,  the  chief  over  the  battalions  of  death.  The  same, 
thing  meets  us  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  Nothing  but  a  divine 
institution  could  have  survived  the  many  obstacles  placed  in  her 
way  by  enemies  who  had,  at  one  time,  belonged  to  the  number  of  her 
children.  Very  early  in  her  career  the  spirit  of  contention,  of  divi- 
sions, and  of  schisms,  as  St.  Paul  calls  them,  made  themselves  evi- 
dent, just  like  a  sickness  which  will  attack  the  opening  life  of  a 
human  being  and  often  destroy  it.  Over  each  one  of  these  she  tri- 
umphed. Most  of  them  were  expelled,  some  of  them  voluntarily 
left  her  society,  and,  while  she  went  on  her  way  the  stronger, 
because  of  their  departure,  they  were  brought  to  nought ;  just  as  the 
germs  of  a  fever  are  sent  out  from  the  system  and  are  destroyed. 
This  phenomenon  has  been  a  continually  repeating  one  in  the  history 
of  the  life  of  the  Church.  First  came  the  contention  among  some  of 
her  members ;  then  the  self  assertion  of  her  own  natural  vitality  and 
health  in  the  shape  of  a  general  council,  or  of  a  pronouncement  of 


PROPAGATION  AND  PRESERVATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.    269 

the  Vicar  of  Christ ;  then  the  departure  of  the  dissatisfied,  the  authors 
of  false  doctrine,  and,  finally,  their  complete  disappearance,  while 
she  has  gone  on  strong  in  the  strength  of  Christ  her  spouse,  vigor- 
ous and  healthy  with  the  truth  which  comes  from  the  Holy  Spirit 
dwelling  within  her. 

She  has  been  preserved,  moreover,  in  a  state  of  youth  and  energy, 
with  no  seeds  of  decay  and  with  no  signs  of  dissolution  within  or 
about  her,  although  she  is  older  than  any  institution  existing.  Few 
people  consider  the  great  age  of  the  Catholic  Church.  She  is  not 
of  yesterday.  She  did  not  commence,  as  some  of  the  sects  round 
about  us,  even  at  what  is  now  considered  the  remote  period  of  three 
hundred  years  ago.  The  twentieth  century  of  the  present  era  is  also 
the  twentieth  century  of  the  life  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Through 
all  that  time  she  alone  has  stood  immovable  and  unshaken  by  events 
which,  with  the  greatest  violence,  have  passed  over  the  world.  She 
has  watched  the  beginnings  of  every  state  in  Europe,  in  the  same 
manner  as  one  of  advanced  years  may  have  witnessed  the  Baptism, 
the  childhood,  the  manhood  of  a  rising  generation ;  but  unlike  such  a 
one,  whose  death  bed  is  attended  by  the  children  he  has  nursed,  the 
Church  of  God  has  witnessed  the  decay  of  every  power  of  which 
ages  ago  she  saw  the  commencement,  and  unimpaired  herself,  has 
seen  most  of  them  pass  completely  away,  and  become  mere  names 
with  which  the  historian  plays,  to  the  delight  or  the  fatigue  of  his 
readers. 

How  can  the  perpetual  youth  and  energy  of  the  Catholic  Church 
during  all  that  time  be  accounted  for,  unless  by  admitting  that  she 
is  a  divine  institution  ?  Has  her  history  been  one  in  which  she  could 
not  well  help  living  on,  strong  and  vigorous,  because  all  men  were 
her  friends,  each  one  ready  to  protect  her  and  to  further  her  progress  ? 
Quite  the  contrary.  Opposition  has  at  once  appeared  against  her  as 
soon  as  she  has  either  brought  her  rich  blessings  and  graces  to  a 
country,  or  has,  at  last,  settled  down,  as  it  seemed,  peaceably  in  the 
land.  Indeed,  it  could  hardly  be  otherwise.  Opposition  is  her 
natural  portion.  She  stands  for  righteousness.  Her  endeavor  is  to 
draw  men  off  from  the  wickedness  of  the  world.  She  starts  by  being 
an  enemy  to  evil,  to  the  base  and  the  sordid,  which  are  all  rampant  in 
human  society,  whether  that  society  be  in  a  savage,  or  a  half-civilized 
or  a  perfectly  civilized  condition,  and  in  all  of  these  forms  it  has  been 
her  lot  to  contend  with  it.  The  opposition  of  the  world  was  the 
legacy  left  to  her  by  Christ  Himself,  who  foretold  how  big  her 


2?0  THE  CREED. 

future  was,  not  with  ease  and  comfort,  not  with  earthly  applause  and 
esteem,  not  with  the  smiles  and  the  praises  of  rulers,  but  with  "tribu- 
lation," with  the  "hatred  of  all  men,"  with  "calumny,"  with  constant 
and  continual  trouble,  because  she  was  to  stand  for  light  and  sanc- 
tity of  conduct  in  a  world  whose  predominant  marks  are  "those 
things  which  savor  not  of  God." 

Throughout  the  ages  she  is  the  one  bright  spot  in  a  condition  of 
the  greatest  gloom.  From  the  sixth  to  the  thirteenth  century  the 
continent  of  Europe  was  filled  with  armed  bands ;  nation  was  against 
nation,  town  against  town,  house  against  house,  each  man's  right 
hand  was  against  his  neighbor.  Down  from  the  highest  hill,  over  the 
widest  plain,  in  the  walled  city,  among  the  inhabitants  of  the  strag- 
gling and  the  scattered  villages,  rapine  and  plunder,  oppression  of 
the  weak  by  the  strong,  and  naturally  fierce  bitterness  for  the  strong 
felt  by  the  weak,  reigned  supreme.  The  Catholic  Church  and  she 
alone  dispelled  this  gloom.  She  brought  peace  instead  of  contention, 
light  instead  of  darkness,  and  where  universal  chaos  had  reigned 
she  introduced  order. 

Nevertheless,  the  general  reward  which  she  received  for  these 
blessings  took  the  shape  sometimes  of  a  mild  form  of  persecution, 
and,  often  enough,  of  persecution  acute,  sharp,  and  prolonged.  The 
swords  of  emperors  and  of  kings  which  should  have  been  used  for 
her  protection  were  frequently  directed  against  her.  Often  the 
blessing  of  liberty  for  herself  and  the  rights  of  humanity  for  the 
poor,  whom  she  took  under  her  special  protection,  were  obtained 
from  barbarous  monarchs  only  at  the  price  of  many  privations  borne 
by  a  great  number  of  her  popes,  and  by  much  fierce  animosity  shown 
to  many  of  her  bishops.  Barons  and  nobles  viewed  with  envy  every 
piece  of  land  which  she,  by  means  of  her  religious  men,  had  redeemed 
from  the  wilderness  or  from  the  barren  mountain  and  turned  into  a 
flourishing  cornfield,  and  the  baron  and  the  nobleman  of  those  days 
no  sooner  began  to  envy  with  the  heart  than  they  commenced  to  rob 
with  the  hand.  If  she  brought  to  us  the  priceless  boon  of  civiliza- 
tion, as  she  did;  if  she  delighted  in  educating  and  in  instructing 
the  poor,  and  the  universities  of  Europe  show  that  she  did  so;  if 
she  taught  brotherly  love  and  fostered  it,  and  the  guilds  and  brother- 
hoods— the  benefit  societies  of  the  Middle  Ages — her  own  creation, 
show,  again,  how  earnest  were  her  endeavors  with  regard  to  that 
virtue,  if,  we  repeat,  she  scattered  the  blessings  of  piety,  of  charity 
and  of  knowledge  among  all,  nevertheless,  the  pages  of  history  are 


PROPAGATION  AND  PRESERVATION  OF  THE  CHURCH.    271 

full  of  the  strong  and  the  violent  opposition  to  which  she  has  had, 
all  along,  to  submit. 

In  spite  of  it  all  she  lives.  In  spite  of  it  all  she  is 
strong  and  flourishing.  There  is  even  now  an  amount  of 
religious  fervor  and  enthusiasm  among  her  members  such  as 
can  be  found  in  no  other  institution.  Her  ministers  still  move 
as  one  man;  filled  with  one  object;  fighting,  in  times  of  re- 
newed opposition,  for  one  end ;  fired  even  in  days  of  quietness  and  of 
calm  with  one  desire — the  progress  and  the  triumph  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  which  is  the  triumph  of  the  kingdom  of  Christ.  Nowhere 
do  we  meet  with  the  same  spontaneous  manifestation  of  tender  love 
for  Christ,  of  deep  faith  in  the  next  world,  and  of  serious  anxiety 
about  the  kingdom  of  God  as  we  do  among  Catholics.  Who  has  not 
been  struck  with  the  sight  so  frequent  in  Catholic  lands,  of  the 
peasant  kneeling  before  the  large  Crucifix  erected  on  the  roadside ;  or 
of  young  and  old  joining  together  to  recite  the  Rosary  in  the  shades 
of  a  thick  wood  or  ascending  the  mountain  path ;  or  of  the  figures  in 
a  dark  church  silently  making  the  Way  of  the  Cross;  or  of  the 
bent  forms  of  hundreds  in  the  streets  greeting  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
in  procession;  or  of  the  continual  foot  fall,  throughout  the  day,  of 
those  that  enter  the  House  of  God,  snatching  a  moment  from  the 
busy  occupations  of  life  to  pray  before  the  Lord  hidden  upon  the 
altar? 

Such  a  faith  as  this  is  evidently  a  living  thing,  and,  as  is  the 
case  with  all  life,  it  moves  quietly  and  unobtrusively,  as  shown  in  the 
simple  religious  habits  of  the  people  in  the  midst  of  whom  it  has 
existed  now  for  so  many  centuries.  And  as  with  all  life  there 
is  a  tenacity,  a  clinging  to  existence  exemplified  in  the  spirit  of 
which  martyrs  are  made  which  is  to  be  found  in  no  other  society  as  it 
is  among  us.  In  these  days  when  submission  to  the  very  slightest  in- 
convenience on  behalf  of  religious  opinion  is  becoming  more  and 
more  rare,  you  will  still  find  in  Catholicism  the  material  of  which 
the  ancient  martyrs  of  the  Christian  faith  were  made.  So  extensively 
and  so  widespread  is  it  to  be  found  that,  were  an  attempt  made  in 
any  country  to  put  an  end  to  the  Church,  most  thinking  people  are 
convinced  that  the  attempt  could  be  made  only  by  wading  through 
streams  of  blood  shed  by  an  enthusiastic  and  a  faithful  laity.  Of 
what  other  faith  can  so  much  as  this  be  said  ? 

Throughout  the  ages,  then,  the  Church  of  the  living  God  has  gone 
triumphantly  on  its  way.  The  open  enemy,  the  false  friend,  the  un- 


272 


THE   CREED. 


grateful  child,  have  all  done  their  best  and  their  worst  to  disturb  its 
peace,  to  destroy  its  unity,  and,  by  so  doing,  to  make  an  end  of  it 
The  devil  has  even  tried  what  moral  evil  would  do  in  the  way  of 
bringing  about  this  result.  He  has  tried  to  corrupt  the  Church  by 
rotten  and  unworthy  members,  by  wickedness  even  in  the  holiest 
places.  Everything  has  been  used  to  destroy  the  institution  founded 
by  Christ,  and  everything  has  failed.  But  everything  has  failed 
because,  although  the  Church  is  made  up  of  human  beings  on  earth, 
she  is  a  divine  creation,  and  is  kept  and  preserved  by  the  same 
Divine  Power  which,  two  thousand  years  ago,  called  her  into  exist- 
ence. 


SUBMISSION    TO    RELIGIOUS    AUTHORITY. 


273 


XXXII.    SUBMISSION  TO  RELIGIOUS  AUTHORITY. 

BY   THE  RIGHT  REV.    JAMES   BELLORD,  D.D. 

"Unless  you  be  converted  and  become  as  little  children,  you  shall  not  enter 
into  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven." — Matt,  xviii,  3. 

SYNOPSIS. — /.  Must  become  as  little  children  if  we  are  to  receive  God's 
word.  The  existence  of  authority  in  the  Church  is  the  will  of  Christ. 
Hence  submission  on  our  part.  Submission  to  authority  most  distasteful 
to  this  age  on  account  of  the  great  discoveries  in  the  natural  order — no 
mystery  too  deep  in  the  supernatural  for  the  man  of  this  age.  This  is  the 
position  of  many  outside  the  fold. 

II.  Christ  sets  before  us  a  little  child  as  a  model;  must  imitate  the 
virtues  of  a  child  if  we  wish  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven — sub- 
mission, dependence,  and  confidence  in  others.    Submission  to  others  has 
been  commanded  by  God  Himself  and  St.  Paul.    Principle  of  religious 
submission  manifested  in  the  Old  as  well  as  in  the  New  Testament. 

III.  God  limits  man's  natural  rights  and  liberties,  and  this  limitation 
is  not  derogatory  to  human  dignity,     (a)  Man's  dependence  throughout 
life  is  seen  by  a  consideration  of  childhood  and  manhood — in  matters  of 
nourishment  and  education — the  necessity  of  submission  to  an  organiza- 
tion, else  no  social  life,     (b)  An  enlightened  age,  still  we  are  bound  to 
seek  the  advice  of  physicians,  lawyers,  etc.     (c)  The  foolhardiness  of  man 
insisting  on  his  capability  of  judging  in  a  realm  of  knowledge  above  his 
nature — religion. 

IV.  Principle  of  private  judgment  means  the  choosing  of  a  different 
teacher  as  often  as  one  so  desires.     In  the  Reformation  freedom   of 
thought  was  permitted  only  against  the  Catholic  Church,  but  not  in  matters 
that  pertained  to  the  reformers'  own  judgments.     The     incongruity  of 
modern  exponents  of  the  principle  of  private  judgment  and  requisite  con- 
ditions for  membership  of  a  sect — the  heresy  trials  of  ministers.     The 
value  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  this  matter — a  truth  stated  by  her  means 
that  its  acceptance  is  guaranteed.    The  evil  consequences  of  the  principle 
of  private  judgment  in  practice.     Unity  of  Christendom  destroyed — ob- 
scurity of  the  great  truths  of  revelation— decline  of  morality — supernatural 
virtues  seldom  found.    Hence  it  is  a  blessing  that  members  of  Protestant 
secij  do  not  strictly  maintain  this  principle. 

V.  Beneficial  results  of  submission   to   qualified  authority.     Only 
method  whereby  man  may  be  certain  of  divine  teachings.    Submission  a 
glory  and  a  happiness  for  the  children  of  the  Church.    Subjection  of  the 
intellect  to  the  word  of  God  proclaimed  by  the  Church  the  surest  way  to 
acquire  that  freedom  with  which  Christ  has  made  us  free  and  that  dignity 
which  belongs  to  His  sons. 

• 

I.  No  living  man  has  the  right  to  speak  such  words  as  these.  But 
when  God  reveals  His  mysteries  to  us,  there  is  no  other  condition  so 
suited  to  His  dignity  and  to  the  character  of  His  revelation.  Hum- 


a?4  THE  CREED. 

ble,  unquestioning,  childlike  submission  to  His  word — by  this  alone 
can  we  qualify  ourselves  to  apprehend  religious  truth,  and  merit 
the  grace  to  understand  it  and  adhere  to  it.  Our  Lord  has  com- 
mitted the  administration  of  His  kingdom  to  certain  spiritual  offi- 
cials. We  have  to  hear  them  as  we  would  hear  Him.  Submission  to 
them  is  submission  to  Him.  The  principle  on  which  His  Church  is 
administered  is  the  principle  of  authority. 

The  very  mention  of  such  a  thing  as  this — submission  to  a  reli- 
gious authority — is,  to  a  large  number  of  mankind,  nothing  less 
than  an  outrage.  Submission  of  any  kind  is  not  for  them.  They 
are  independent,  free,  masters  of  themselves,  the  final  judges  of 
every  truth;  their  will  is  their  only  law.  Man  has  subjected  the 
earth  to  his  dominion,  he  has  discovered  the  most  recondite  truths ; 
the  truths  of  the  spiritual  world  must,  he  thinks,  appear  before  his 
judgment  and  crave  his  approval.  The  human  race  has  passed  from 
childhood  to  maturity.  Every  man  is  now  a  portion  of  the  sov- 
ereign power  that  reigns  and  legislates;  and  how  shall  he  submit 
himself  to  absolute  rule  in  spiritual  matters?  If  there  is  any  sub- 
ject on  which  men  must  have  the  fullest  liberty  to  indulge  all  the 
vagaries  of  imagination  and  passion,  it  is  religion.  How  shall  they 
give  up  this  privilege?  The  one  reproach  against  the  Catholic 
Church  on  which  her  adversaries  are  most  united,  and  which  excites 
their  wildest  indignation,  is  that  she  puts  forth  her  religious  and 
moral  doctrines  as  being  the  Word  of  God  and  infallibly  true; 
and  that  she  demands  the  submission  of  the  intellect,  and  the  ac- 
ceptance, on  her  word,  of  truths  that  are  beyond  our  investigation. 
This  is  described  as  enslaving  the  mind,  strangling  free  inquiry, 
keeping  the  world  in  a  state  of  childhood  and  ignorance,  trampling 
human  rights  and  so  on.  The  Church,  therefore,  is  set  down  as 
the  enemy  of  investigation  and  truth,  light  and  knowledge,  and  as  a 
fatal  influence  that  must  be  resisted  at  all  costs.  It  is  not  long 
since  Protestants  celebrated  the  centenary  of  the  great  heresiarch 
Luther.  Never  before  was  there  such  a  religious  hero.  This  saint 
of  the  Reformation  was  a  man  distinguished  for  his  grossness, 
gluttony,  and  violence,  for  filthiness  of  speech,  violation  of  sacred 
vows,  arrogance,  and  cruelty.  Yet  all  this  is  overlooked  for  the 
sake  of  his  hostility  to  the  divine  authority  of  the  Church,  and  he  is 
glorified  as  the  father  of  modern  religious  liberty.  He  is  the  father 
indeed  of  obstinacy  and  self-will,  pride  and  rebellion,  error  and  dis- 
union. Never  was  any  man's  character  more  opposite  to  the  inno- 


SUBMISSION    TO    RELIGIOUS    AUTHORITY. 


275 


cence,  gentleness,  purity,  and  love,  which  Our  Lord  shows  in  His 
own  life  and  inculcates  in  the  Gospel. 

II.  The  model  set  before  us  by  our  Divine  Lord  is  a  little  child. 
"Jesus  calling  unto  him  a  little  child,  set  him  in  the  midst  of  them, 
and  said :  Amen,  I  say  to  you,  unless  you  be  converted  and  become 
as  little  children,  you  shall  not  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Who- 
soever therefore  shall  humble  himself  as  this  little  child,  he  is  the 
greater  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven"  (Matt,  xviii,  2-4).  The  quali- 
ties of  childhood  are  most  beautiful  and  deserving  of  love.  The 
chief  are  innocence  and  lowliness,  submission  and  simple  confidence, 
dependence  on  others,  readiness  to  believe  and  follow  proper  guid- 
ance; the  very  reverse  of  the  qualities  of  the  heresiarch  as  the  man 
of  the  world,  the  reverse  of  self-sufficiency,  conceit,  and  irreverent 
inquiry.  As  children  to  their  parents,  so  should  we  act  toward 
God.  The  same  virtues  which  make  the  charm  of  childhood  gain 
us  the  love  of  our  Creator.  In  dealing  with  the  world  we  must  be 
warriors,  courageous  and  firm,  persisting  in  what  is  right,  enduring 
ill-treatment,  never  hesitating  or  yielding.  Toward  God  we  must 
be  as  children,  leaving  ourselves  in  His  hands,  not  presuming  to 
discuss  or  doubt  when  He  teaches  us,  suppressing  all  will  of  our 
own  in  the  face  of  His  commands. 

The  submission  which  we  owe  to  God  He  has  bidden  us  to  show 
to  His  deputies.  God  does  not  speak  to  us  individually  by  separate 
revelations,  but  through  His  Apostles,  and  Prophets,  and  Pontiffs. 
He  has  appointed  an  organized  body  to  rule  and  teach  in  His  name, 
and  He  has  written  their  credentials  in  Holy  Scripture.  "He  that 
heareth  you  heareth  me;  and  he  that  despiseth  you  despiseth  me" 
(Luke  x,  16).  The  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  indicates  clearly  that 
this  is  the  only  method  used  by  Divine  Providence  in  instructing 
mankind.  Our  faith  is  not  from  special  illumination,  nor  from  pri- 
vate investigation,  nor  from  scientific  and  critical  proceedings,  but 
"Faith  cometh  by  hearing."  "How  shall  they  believe  him,  of  whom 
they  have  not  heard  ?  And  how  shall  they  hear  without  a  preacher  ? 
And  how  shall  they  preach  unless  they  be  sent?"  (Rom.  x,  14,  15, 
17).  In  these  passages  is  contained  our  sole  rule  of  knowledge  and 
safety,  submission  to  religious  authority. 

The  general  principles  of  religion  are  the  same  in  the  Old  and 
the  New  Testament.  The  New  is  a  fulfilment  and  a  development, 
not  a  reversal  of  the  Old.  All  sacred  history  shows  us  God  ruling 
his  people  by  Patriarchs,  and  Prophets,  and  Judges,  by  Moses  and 


3.g  THE    CREED. 

Aaron,  and  their  successors  in  the  priestly  power.  They  were 
invested  with  full  authority.  They  spoke  in  the  name  of  God  and 
under  His  direction.  To  obey  them  was  to  obey  God  Himself.  In 
the  case  of  hard  and  doubtful  judgments,  the  command  of  God  was 
this:  "Arise  and  go  up  to  the  place  which  the  Lord  thy  God  shall 
choose.  And  thou  shalt  come  to  the  priests  of  the  Levitical  race, 
and  to  the  judge  that  shall  be  at  that  time;  and  thou  shalt  ask  of 
them,  and  they  shall  show  thee  the  truth  of  the  judgment.  And 
thou  shalt  do  whatever  they  shall  say  that  preside  in  the  place  which 
the  Lord  shall  choose,  and  what  they  shall  teach  thee  according  to 
his  law;  and  thou  shalt  follow  their  sentence;  neither  shalt  thou 
decline  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left  hand.  But  he  that  will  be 
proud,  and  refuse  to  obey  the  commandment  of  the  priest  who 
ministereth  at  that  time  to  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  the  decree  of  the 
judge,  that  man  shall  die,  and  thou  shalt  take  away  the  evil  from 
Israel"  (Deut.  xvii,  8-12).  As  time  went  on,  the  direct  management 
of  secular  matters  was  taken  out  of  the  hands  of  the  religious 
authority,  and  committed  to  the  civil  power  and  other  men  of  ability, 
but  decisions  as  to  faith  and  morals  still  remained  in  the  hands  of 
God's  deputies ;  and  the  same  authority  passed  on  without  diminution 
into  the  hands  of  the  Apostles,  and  of  those  who  succeeded  to  their 
functions,  the  body  of  the  teaching  Church. 

III.  If  in  these  ordinations  God  had  chosen  to  withdraw  from 
men  part  of  that  dominion  which  naturally  belongs  to  them,  who 
are  we  to  dare  resist  this  supreme  Will,  and  refuse  a  sacrifice  de- 
manded by  One  to  whom  our  lives  and  our  whole  being  belong? 
"O  man,  who  art  thou  that  repliest  against  God?  Shall  the  thing 
formed  say  to  him  that  formed  it,  Why  hast  thou  made  me  thus?" 
(Rom.  ix,  20).  But  there  is  nothing  derogatory  to  human  dignity. 
There  is  no  suppression  of  natural  rights  and  liberties  in  what  God 
demands  of  us.  Submission  and  dependence  belong  to  our  present 
condition,  and  are  as  essential  to  our  life  as  the  air  we  breathe,  or 
the  food  we  eat. 

I.  We  are  born  dependent,  we  receive  our  lives  through  the  will 
and  the  action  of  our  parents.  In  our  early  years  we  are  under  the 
absolute  control  of  others  for  our  nourishment  and  our  education. 
We  arrive  at  manhood,  we  become  our  own  masters,  but  only  to 
a  limited  extent;  we  are  subject  to  a  whole  hierarchy  of  superiors; 
we  must  regulate  our  lives  according  to  the  customs  that  others  have 
created;  we  must  conform  ourselves  to  a  multitude  of  laws;  we 


SUBMISSION    TO    RELIGIOUS    AUTHORITY.  377 

are  limited  and  restrained  at  every  moment,  not  only  by  legal  sta- 
tutes, but  by  the  irresistible  pressure  of  the  crowd  of  men  among 
whom  we  live.  We  must  live  in  submission  or  be  crushed.  This  is 
the  rule  of  existence.  No  one  is  exempt;  not  even  those  who  hold 
the  supreme  power  of  government.  Without  this  submission,  no 
organization,  no  social  life  is  possible;  without  it,  a  community  of 
men  would  be  no  more  than  a  horde  of  savages,  each  at  war  with 
all,  each  in  danger  from  others,  and  each  a  danger  to  all  others. 
There  is  one  God  whom  all  are  bound  to  serve;  there  are  certain 
truths  which  are  true  at  all  times  and  to  all  men ;  there  is  one  rule 
of  moral  rectitude  always  the  same.  To  say  that  men  have  these 
common  interests,  and  common  duties,  and  common  action,  is  to  say 
that  they  form  a  harmonious  community  in  religious  matters,  that 
there  must  be  some  sort  of  organization  among  them ;  and  if  so, 
that  there  must  be  grades  of  religious  authority  and  subordination. 
Anarchy  in  religion  does  not  indeed  produce  the  same  physical 
horrors  as  civil  anarchy;  mankind  has  grown  accustomed  to  the 
spectacle,  so  as  not  to  perceive  how  irrational  and  unnatural  it  is; 
but  in  truth,  the  religious  organization  of  men,  coming  directly 
from  God  and  looking  directly  to  Him,  must  needs  bear  the  impress 
of  His  perfections  more  distinctly  than  political  organizations; 
therefore  a  religious  system  that  is  without  unity,  harmony,  or  sub- 
mission, is  more  alien  than  civil  discord,  insecurity,  and  lawlessness, 
from  the  Spirit  of  Him  who  is  the  God  not  of  dissension,  but  of 
peace. 

2.  It  is  not  within  the  power  of  any  man  to  dispense  with  guid- 
ance. This  is  a  most  enlightened  age.  What  does  that  mean  for  the 
bulk  of  mankind?  That  they  are  more  independent  of  instruction 
and  guidance?  On  the  contrary.  It  means  that  there  are 
more  masters  and  guides  for  them  to  follow,  that  there  is  less  scope 
for  the  wanderings  of  their  imagination,  and  less  tolerance  for 
their  errors.  Even  the  most  skilful  of  men  shape  their  conduct  in 
most  important  matters  on  the  information  they  obtain  from  others ; 
they  will  not  trust  their  own  foresight  without  taking  abundant 
counsel.  Outside  their  own  particular  sphere,  they  are  ready  to 
submit  unreservedly  to  a  competent  authority,  to  the  opinion  of  a 
medical  man,  a  lawyer,  an  engineer,  a  man  of  business.  And  even 
in  his  own  sphere,  a  man  knows  he  is  no  judge  in  his  own  case.  The 
physician  will  call  in  another  to  prescribe  for  him,  and  will  speak 
as  respectfully  of  that  other's  opinion  as  if  he  himself  were  quite 


278 


THE    CREED. 


ignorant  of  medicine.  An  eminent  lawyer  drew  up  his  own  will,  and 
its  irregularity  and  obscurity  made  it  the  subject  of  endless  litiga- 
tion. And  what  shall  we  say  as  to  the  capacity  of  men  in  gen- 
eral to  guide  themselves,  ill-informed,  undisciplined,  prejudiced  as 
they  are,  blinded  by  passion,  unable  to  reason,  obstinate,  or  weakly 
yielding  to  every  fallacy?  Of  this  educated  generation  it  has 
been  written,  that  none  but  the  very  few  are  capable  of  forming 
an  opinion  about  anything  that  is  not  self-evident.  Almost  all 
men  are  slaves  to  the  ideas  and  fashions  of  the  society  they  live  in. 
Only  half  a  dozen  in  an  age  can  shake  themselves  free  from  these 
influences  and  make  full  use  of  that  liberty  of  thought  that  everyone 
boasts  of  possessing. 

3.  Dependence  and  subjection  are  necessary;  but  there  is  one 
region  in  which  men  insist  on  their  capacity  of  judging  for  them- 
selves, and  their  right  to  resist  all  authority.  Strange  to  say,  it  is 
precisely  that  region  which  God  has  not  made  subject  to  man,  of 
which  He  Himself  has  revealed  the  truths  and  laws,  where  He 
has  commanded  submission  of  the  intellect,  and  appointed  definite 
guides.  Religion  is  far  above  human  capacity,  it  belongs  to 
another  order  of  things,  outside  the  natural  order.  It  is  a  subject 
of  the  most  awful  importance,  both  during  our  present  life  and 
for  unending  eternity,  and  yet  a  subject  obscure  and  difficult,  which 
few  have  the  time  to  investigate  as  it  deserves,  and  fewer  still  the 
capacity;  a  subject  which  grows  more  uncertain  as  it  is  more 
closely  scrutinized  by  human  talent,  and  on  which  no  man  has  ever 
gained  the  right  to  speak  with  the  same  authority  as  on  chemistry 
or  astronomy.  Of  all  subjects  it  is  the  one  which  most  manifestly 
requires  to  be  communicated  to  us  by  superior  authority,  and 
where  human  investigation  is  limited  to  enquiring  which  is  the 
Church  that  God  has  appointed  as  teacher,  and  commissioned  to 
speak  infallibly  in  His  name. 

IV.  The  enemies  of  the  Church  are  never  tired  of  contrasting  the 
ignominies  of  religious  subjection  to  authority,  with  the  grandeur 
of  being  one's  own  master,  of  freely  criticising,  and  choosing  doc- 
trines, and  with  the  dignity  of  being  responsible  to  God  alone.  But 
what  is  actually  the  alternative  if  we  withhold  our  submission  from 
a  divine  teacher  ?  Is  it  absolute  freedom  and  irresponsibility  to  any 
less  than  God?  No.  It  is  only  the  freedom  of  fickleness,  the 
freedom  of  choosing  another  master  as  often  as  we  like.  Men 
being  what  they  are,  most  of  them  must  be  guided  in  religious  mat- 


SUBMISSION    TO    RELIGIOUS    AUTHORITY.  279 

ters  as  in  everything  else.  They  can  not  think  for  themselves,  they 
must  accept  the  conclusions  of  others.  The  only  question  is  whether 
they  shall  render  an  honest  and  open  submission  to  the  deputy 
appointed  by  God,  or  whether  they  shall  be  cajoled  into  a  sub- 
mission just  as  real,  but  disguised  under  the  name  of  independence. 
The  principle  of  the  Reformation  was  the  right  of  private  investiga- 
tion and  the  supremacy  of  private  judgment.  But  as  soon  as  the 
yoke  of  the  Church  was  cast  off,  that  principle  was  dropped  in  prac- 
tice. Confessions  of  faith,  and  articles,  and  forms  of  worship  were 
drawn  up  by  the  chief  rulers  of  each  sect  and  imposed  on  the  con- 
sciences of  their  adherents.  Each  of  the  reformers  aspired  to  be 
more  than  a  Pope  among  his  own  followers.  Liberty  of  thought  was 
for  him,  subjection  for  them.  Private  judgment  was  allowed  free 
exercise  against  the  Catholic  Church;  but  no  father  of  the  Refor- 
mation would  tolerate  any  private  judgment  that  differed  from  his 
own.  Each  one  of  them  denounced  and  excommunicated  all  the 
others.  Servetus  was  burned  by  his  brother  reformers  at  Geneva. 
The  Church  of  England,  as  Protestant  historians  tell  us,  maintained 
its  ascendancy  by  a  bloodthirsty  code  of  penal  laws,  directed  against 
all  who  ventured  to  hold  adverse  opinions  of  their  own. 

The  barbarities  of  those  ages  have  ceased.  This  generation  is 
more  indifferent  to  religion  and  more  tolerant.  But  still  all  the 
non-Catholic  sects  cry  out  against  the  submission  which  the  Catholic 
Church  receives  from  her  members,  and  would  gladly  exact  it  for 
themselves.  With  equal  vigor  they  proclaim  freedom  of  thought, 
and  refuse  it  to  others.  If  they  really  believe  that  every  man  is 
right  in  judging  for  himself,  what  is  the  meaning  of  their  tests,  and 
conditions  of  membership,  and  prosecutions  for  false  teachings,  and 
outcries  about  heresy?  Why  such  enmity  against  those  who  leave 
them  for  some  other  form  of  religion?  Why  this  unceasing  suspi- 
cion and  prejudice  against  those  who  sincerely  believe  in  a  Church, 
which  all  must  acknowledge  to  be  the  oldest,  the  largest,  the  strong- 
est form  of  Christianity,  a  Church  which,  even  if  ,all  calumnies  were 
true,  has  yet  done  more  than  any  other  for  the  benefit  of  humanity. 
A  Catholic's  belief  rests  on  authority,  but  it  is  not  the  less  on  that 
account  his  private  and  conscientious  conviction;  yet  the  loudest 
advocates  of  liberty  would  deny  to  the  majority  of  Christians  the 
right  to  act  on  that  conviction.  The  Church  inspires  Catholics  with 
absolute  confidence ;  why  should  they  not  show  their  confidence,  or  in 
other  words  their  submission,  when  other  men  are  considered  justi- 


280 


THE   CREED. 


fied  in  submitting  to  Churches  which  they  trust  only  so  far  as  they 
can  see  them?  The  fact  is  that  there  is  no  sincerity  in  this  outcry 
against  the  submission  of  Catholics  to  their  Church.  Every  religion 
claims  it.  The  very  existence  of  an  organized  church  with  preachers 
and  laws  is  an  assertion  of  authority  and  a  demand  for  submission. 
The  very  fact  of  proclaiming  any  truth  as  truth  is  a  demand  that 
men  shall  submit  their  intelligence  to  it  by  accepting  it.  Those  who 
think  they  have  gained  freedom  by  rejecting  the  claims  of  the 
Catholic  Church  are  grievously  mistaken,  so  long  as  they  profess 
any  other  form  of  religion.  They  have  only  taken  another  master; 
they  are  still  in  a  state  of  subjection,  but  without  its  name,  and 
without  its  merit,  and  without  its  security. 

We  may  inquire  further  what  the  principle  of  private  judgment 
and  freedom  has  amounted  to  in  practice.  Has  the  change  in  the 
basis  of  religion,  the  change  from  submission  to  independence,  justi- 
fied the  high  expectations  that  were  proclaimed?  It  was  said,  and 
is  still  said  by  those  who  are  indifferent  to  the  teaching  of  facts,  that 
the  revolt  against  authority  was  the  herald  of  an  epoch  of  religious 
enlightenment  and  progress,  of  genuine  fervor,  and  of  manly  vir- 
tues; events  have  proved  it  to  be  the  most  powerful  dissolvent  of 
religion.  Under  its  influence  the  great  unity  of  Christendom  has 
become  disintegrated  into  an  enormous  number  of  small  bodies,  and 
is  gradually  being  resolved  into  its  ultimate  atoms.  The  great  truths 
of  revelation  have  become  obscured,  indefinite,  uncertain,  till  they 
are  found  no  longer  tenable.  The  presence  of  God  has  ceased  to 
be  a  reality  to  men.  He  eludes  their  irreverent  investigation,  He 
retires  from  their  sight.  Men  leave  God  out  of  consideration  in  all 
their  actions;  they  have  become  practically  atheists,  long  before 
giving  up  the  habitual  forms  of  worship  and  of  speech.  The  decline 
of  morality  has  followed  close  on  the  decline  of  doctrines.  The 
more  divine  and  noble  virtues  have  become  almost  extinct,  outside 
the  influence  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Only  the  natural  virtues 
are  recognized,  and  they  only  so  far  as  they  are  found  profitable 
and  expedient.  Dishonesty,  and  falsehood,  and  lust,  and  avarice,  are 
becoming  the  recognized  rules  of  human  life.  Where  some  religious 
sense  still  exists  outside  the  Catholic  Church,  its  manifestations  are 
as  injurious  to  true  religion  as  unbelief  itself.  It  distorts  doctrines, 
mixes  up  truth  and  errors  into  incoherent  systems,  revels  in  all 
sorts  of  fantastic  extravagances,  and  makes  piety  ridiculous.  So  its 
tendency  is  to  break  up  unity  still  more,  to  make  revelation  more 


SUBMISSION    TO    RELIGIOUS   AUTHORITY.  281 

uncertain,  to  destroy  more  completely  instead  of  building  up,  and  to 
make  religion  seem  discreditable  as  well  as  unreasonable.  What- 
ever success  any  sect  has  had  in  maintaining  divine  truths  and  a 
respectable  standard  of  conduct,  has  been  due  not  to  the  principle 
of  independence,  but  to  the  principle  of  authority.  It  has  fortu- 
nately happened  at  times  that  the  reformed  sects  have  been  untrue 
to  the  principle  of  their  existence,  have  borrowed  boldly  the  doc- 
trines and  practices  of  the  Catholic  Church  which  their  ancestors 
rejected,  and  have  defended  them  on  the  Catholic  ground  of  religious 
submission.  Except  for  this,  the  very  name  of  religion  would  have 
been  extinct  outside  the  boundaries  of  the  Church.  The  gain  which 
has  accrued  from  the  revolt  against  submission  in  faith  and  morals 
has  been  to  irreligion  and  not  to  religion,  not  to  the  knowledge  and 
love  of  God,  but  to  atheism  and  vice.  The  religious  enlightenment 
of  the  world  outside  the  Church's  sphere  is  enlightenment  only  in  the 
sense  that  the  word  bears  in  the  mouths  of  the  blasphemers,  the 
profligate,  and  the  infidel. 

V.  Submission  to  a  qualified  authority  is  the  only  path  to  reli- 
gious truth.  It  is  the  only  method  which  is  accommodated 
to  the  character  of  religious  truth  itself,  as  being  so  lofty  and 
so  obscure,  divine,  and  mysterious.  It  is  the  only  method 
adapted  to  the  circumstances  of  men,  who  are  so  limited  in  capacity, 
so  occupied  by  labor,  so  indifferent,  so  sluggish,  so  unre- 
liable in  observing  and  reasoning.  It  is  a  method  which  accord? 
with  the  goodness  and  wisdom  of  God,  and  with  the  supreme  impor- 
tance of  the  message  He  has  to  communicate  to  us ;  a  method  which 
He  observed  in  His  teachings  with  the  Jews  of  old,  which  Our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  established  anew  in  His  teaching  for  the  example  of 
future  times,  and  which  the  Apostles  insist  upon,  as  the  only  road  to 
spiritual  knowledge  and  salvation.  This  same  method  has  been  fol- 
lowed in  the  Church  for  over  1900  years ;  it  has  prevailed  generally, 
except  in  a  few  instances  and  chiefly  in  modern  times ;  it  has  proved 
its  efficiency  in  the  conversion  of  the  world  to  Christianity,  in  the 
benefits  it  has  brought  to  society,  in  the  holiness  and  heroism  it  has 
inspired,  in  the  unity  of  spirit  and  belief  which  it  maintains  through- 
out so  enormous  and  heterogeneous  a  body.  The  frank  acceptance 
of  this  principle  by  so  many  generations  of  free  and  enlightened 
men,  their  absolute  conviction  of  its  truth  and  strong  attachment 
to  it,  prove  that  it  meets  a  need  in  human  nature,  and  is  not  sub- 
versive of  human  rights  and  liberties. 


2g2  THE   CREED. 

Submission  to  the  Church  is  not,  as  many  insist,  an  oppression 
and  a  disgrace,  but  it  is  the  glory  and  the  happiness  of  her  children. 
They  are  enabled  to  render  to  God  the  homage  of  the  noblest  part 
of  their  nature,  by  bowing  their  intellect  to  the  obedience  of  faith ; 
for  they  submit  themselves,  not  to  man,  but  to  God  Himself,  in  recog- 
nizing the  authority  which  He  has  delegated,  and  the  messengers  He 
has  sent.  Their  submission  does  honor  to  themselves,  not  only 
as  an  act  of  generous  sacrifice,  but  as  delivering  them  from  the  ser- 
vitude of  error.  No  one  who  has  any  conception  of  the  sacredness 
of  truth  can  doubt  that  subjection  to  religious  and  moral  errors  is 
most  evil  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  most  degrading  slavery  to  men. 
It  is  incomprehensible  that  any  should  so  glory  in  their  shame  as  to 
rejoice  in  the  absence  of  infallible  guidance,  and  in  the  possibili- 
ties of  ignorance  and  falsehood  that  are  open  to  them.  Truth  is  in 
a  sense  a  limitation;  because  it  is  one,  while  the  variations  of 
falsehood  are  innumerable;  and  also  because  when  it  is  once  mani- 
fested to  us,  we  have  no  longer  the  moral  liberty,  though  we  have 
still  the  power  to  call  it  in  question  or  reject  it  in  favor  of  error. 
But  certainty  about  the  truth  deprives  us  of  nothing.  It  is  no  part 
of  our  rights  to  be  allowed  to  disbelieve  the  truth,  it  is  no  privilege 
to  be  uncertain  what  truth  is.  Our  submission  also  limits  our  re- 
sponsibilities and  our  dangers.  It  is  often  a  terrible  struggle  to 
find  out  the  teacher  whom  God  has  appointed  and  to  dare  to  ac- 
knowledge him;  but  once  the  critical  step  is  taken,  God  gives  us  a 
sense  of  rest  and  a  security  as  to  the  rule  of  faith  and  living,  that  is 
only  forfeited  by  very  grievous  sin.  In  this  security  there  is  nothing 
of  fanatical  enthusiasm,  nothing  compulsory  or  slavish.  It  is  an 
honorable  and  voluntary  assent  grounded  on  the  most  positive 
intellectual  conviction. 

Those  who  humble  themselves  shall  be  exalted.  Those  who  take 
up  the  yoke  of  Christ  will  be  admitted  to  share  His  glory.  Those 
who  subject  their  intellect  to  the  word  of  God  and  who  practice  sub- 
mission and  lowly  obedience  to  faith,  acquire  thereby  the  freedom 
with  which  Christ  has  made  us  free,  and  the  dignity  which  belongs 
to  His  sons. 


THE    COMMUNION    OF    SAINTS.  283 


XXXIII.    THE  COMMUNION  OF  SAINTS. 

BY  THE  REV.  BERTRAND  L.   CONWAY,  C.S.P. 

"For  as  the  body  is  one,  and  hath  many  members;  and  all  the  members  of 
the  body,  whereas  they  are  many,  yet  are  one  body,  so  also  is  Christ.  For  in 
one  Spirit  were  we  all  baptized  into  one  body,  whether  Jews  or  Gentiles, 
whether  bond  or  free,  and  in  one  Spirit  we  have  all  been  made  to  drink." — 
I  Cor.  xii,  12,  13. 

SYNOPSIS. — Introduction. — St.  Paul,  the  great  teacher  of  the  Communion 
of  Saints.  The  dogma  implies  not  a  mechanical,  forced  or  accidental 
unity,  but  an  organic  vital  unity  of  all  the  members  of  Christ's  real,  mys- 
tical Body,  the  Church.  It  is  an  interworld  unity  of  the  faithful  on  earth, 
the  souls  in  Purgatory,  and  the  blessed  in  heaven.  It  is  founded  on  the 
Redemption,  and  is  given  through  the  initiation  of  Baptism.  It  connotes 
a  common  share  of  all  the  brethren  in  the  spiritual  treasury  of  the  Church, 
for  the  purpose  of  the  salvation  of  souls  and  the  glory  of  God. 

I.  The  Church  Militant. — All  the  faithful  on  earth  share  in  the  fruits 
of  the  Redemption,  the  Mass,  the  Sacraments  and  divine  graces,  and  in 
the  prayers  and  good  works  of  one  another.    This  idea  is  foreign  to  the 
non-Catholic,  who  denies  the  divinity  of  Christ,  or  believing  in  an  im- 
puted justification,  denies  the  Mass,  the  sacramental  system,  the  efficacy 
of  good  works,  indulgences,  etc.    The  efficacy  of  the  prayers  of  the  con- 
templative orders. 

II.  The  Church  Triumphant. — The  communion  between  the  blessed 
and  ourselves  consists  (/)  in  their  intercession  for  us;  (2)  in  our  asking 
their  prayers;  (j)  in  our  imitation  of  their  virtues.    This  is  the  teaching 
of  the  Scriptures  and  Christian  antiquity.    It  does  not  imply   (z)   any 
derogation  of  the  merits  of  Christ,  the  One  Meditator,  (2)  or  interfere 
in  our  relationship  with  God.     The  blessed  know  and  love  us. 

HI.  The  Church  Suffering. — (/)  We  pray  for  them,  and  (2)  they 
for  us.  The  teaching  of  the  Scriptures,  the  Fathers,  the  Liturgies. 

Peroration. — The  lessons  of  the  dogma:  (i)  Unity  in  the  bond  of 
peace;  (2)  Zeal  for  the  conversion  of  those  not  belonging  to  the  Com- 
munion. 

St.  Paul  is  the  great  exponent  of  the  dogma  of  the  Communion 
of  Saints.  In  letter  after  letter  to  the  early  Christians  he  pictures 
the  redeemed  of  Christ  united  in  one  great  brotherhood  under  the 
one  divine  Head,  Christ  Jesus — a  brotherhood  extending  beyond  the 
portals  of  death  into  the  life  of  eternity,  and  embracing  all  "the 
fellow  citizens  of  the  saints  and  domestics  of  God"  (Eph.  ii,  20),  on 
earth,  in  purgatory,  and  in  heaven. 

In  his  letter  to  the  Church  of  Corinth,  he  teaches  us  that  this 
interworld  communion  is  not  a  mechanical  unity  as  of  a  number  of 
apples  in  a  barrel,  nor  a  forced  unity  as  of  convicts  in  a  state  prison, 


284  THE    CREED. 

nor  a  transient,  accidental  unity  as  of  a  trainload  of  passengers,  but 
an  organic,  vital  union,  as  is  clear  from  his  comparing  it  to  the 
human  body. 

The  human  body  is  composed  of  many  members,  all  differing 
from  one  another  in  function,  strength,  honor,  and  beauty  (I  Cor. 
xii,  1 8,  22,  23,  24),  and  yet  made  one  and  energized  by  the  soul  or 
principle  of  life.  Take  away  from  the  body  the  soul  that  nourishes 
the  various  members  in  a  marvelous  unity  of  operation  and  harmony 
of  development  and  instantly  there  is  "a  schism  in  the  body"  (I  Cor. 
xii,  25)  that  causes  disintegration  and  death. 

So  likewise  in  the  Communion  of  Saints,  or  the  mystical  body  of 
Christ.  In  the  concept  of  the  Apostle  all  men  are  saints,  not  because 
they  dwell  before  God's  throne  enjoying  the  Beatific  Vision,  but 
because  they  are  "called  to  be  saints"  (I  Cor.  i,  2)  by  the  reason 
of  their  partaking  of  the  fruits  of  Christ's  redemption  in  the  Sacra- 
ment of  Baptism.  "For  in  one  Spirit  were  we  all  baptised  into  one 
body"  (I  Cor.  xii,  13).  "One  body,  one  Spirit,  one  Lord,  one 
faith,  one  baptism"  (Eph.  iv,  4,  5). 

Christ  the  Saviour  is  the  soul  of  life  of  His  mystical  body,  for  the 
infinite  graces  that  He  won  for  us  by  His  death  on  the  Cross,  are 
"poured  forth  into  our  hearts  through  His  Spirit  which  is  given  us," 
especially  in  the  receiving  of  His  Body  and  Blood  in  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  "For  we  being  many  are  one  bread,  one  body,  all  that 
partake  of  one  Bread."  "And  in  one  Spirit,  vre  have  all  been  made 
to  drink,"  i.  e.  of  the  chalice  of  the  Blood  of  Christ.  (I.  Cor.  x,  17; 
xii,  13.) 

Death  has  no  power  to  break  the  bond  of  fellowship  of  those 
"Who  have  received  the  Spirit  of  adoption  of  sons"  (Rom.  viii,  15). 
The  Sons  of  God  who  have  won  the  crown  incorruptible,  "having 
suffered  on  earth  with  Christ,  are  now  glorified  with  Him"  (Rom. 
viii,  17),  while  those  who  are  still  defiled  with  slight  sin  suffer  for 
a  time  in  the  prison  until  the  last  farthing  of  their  debt  is  paid 
(Apoc.  xxi,  27;  Matt,  v,  26).  The  fellowship  of  the  triumphant 
and  the  suffering  church  with  their  brethren  of  the  militant  church 
is  most  close  and  intimate,  because  their  love  has  become  intensified 
in  the  fire  of  suffering,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  Infinite  Love  of 
the  Triune  God. 

The  Communion  of  Saints  that  we  speak  of  in  the  Apostles'  Creed, 
beloved  brethren,  implies  a  common  participation  of  all  the  faithful 
in  the  spiritual  treasury  of  Christ's  mystical  body,  the  Church. 


THE    COMMUNION    OF    SAINTS.  285 

We  believe  that  our  Saviour  instead  of  redeeming  us  by  His  life 
of  bitter  poverty  and  His  death  of  shameful  crucifixion  might  have 
saved  us  by  a  word.  Out  of  love  for  us,  however,  He  suffered  a 
thousand  times  more  than  was  necessary  to  save  many  worlds* 
These  infinite  merits,  together  with  the  superabundant  merits  of 
Christ's  mother  and  His  saints,  exist  always,  forming  a  great  spir- 
itual treasury,  confided  to  the  Church,  and  accessible  to  every  mem- 
ber of  the  Communion  of  Saints.  As  men  who  are  stockholders  in  a 
great  business  corporation  co-operate  with  each  other  toward  a 
common  purpose,  and  share  proportionately  the  profits  of  the  con- 
cern, so  the  members  of  Christ's  body  unite  for  one  purpose,  the 
glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  their  souls,  and  share  according 
to  their  merits  the  "unsearchable  riches  of  Christ"  (Eph.  iii,  8). 

I.    The  Church  Militant. 

The  faithful  who  are  still  on  earth  combating  for  Christ  against 
the  three  enemies  of  their  salvation — the  World,  the  Flesh,  and 
Satan — are  known  as  the  Church  Militant.  This  is  a  scriptural  term 
borrowed  from  the  strong  and  forcible  imagery  of  St.  Paul.  We  all 
remember  that  striking  portrait  of  the  Christian  soldier  which  he 
painted  while  a  prisoner  in  Rome  living  in  the  midst  of  military 
sights  and  sounds.  "Put  you  on  the  armor  of  God,"  he  writes  to  the 
Christians  of  Ephesus,  "the  strong  belt  of  truth,  the  shining  breast- 
plate of  justice,  faith  and  love  (I  Thess.  v,  8),  the  heavy  sandals 
of  the  Gospel  of  peace,  the  large  shield  of  faith,  the  close-fitting  hel- 
met of  salvation,  and  the  sharp  sword  of  the  Spirit"  (Eph.  vi,  11-17; 
Cf.  I  Cor.  ix,  7;  II  Cor.  x,  4;  I  Tim.  i,  18;  II  Tim.  ii,  3). 

"The  weapons  of  our  warfare  are  not  carnal"  (II  Cor.  x,  4),  but 
spiritual,  and  by  the  mercy  of  God  are  all  stored  ready  for  us  in  the 
vast  armory  of  His  Church.  What  are  the  treasures  which  the 
soldiers  of  Christ  share  with  one  another  in  their  holy  communion? 
When  the  Apostle  cried  out  of  old  "I  live,  now  not  I,  but  Christ 
liveth  in  me"  (Gal.  ii,  20),  he  spoke  of  the  life  of  divine  grace, 
which  he  lived  in  virtue  of  his  close  union  with  Christ,  His  Head, 
and  which  every  member  of  that  Body  may  possess  for  the  asking. 

Whence  comes  the  divine  life?  From  the  dying  Jesus  on  Cal- 
vary's Cross.  There  must  the  generations  of  God's  people  go  to 
drink  of  the  "fountain  springing  up  into  life  everlasting"  (John  iv, 
14).  There  must  the  sick  go  to  be  healed  by  the  Great  Physician 


286  THE   CREED. 

(Luke  v,  31).  There  must  the  dead  be  brought  that  they  too  "may 
walk  in  the  newness  of  life"  (Rom.  vi,  4). 

The  sterile  faith  of  non-Catholic  Christians  with  its  denial  of  the 
Mass  and  the  sacramental  system  would  have  its  people  rest  in  a 
mere  imputed  holiness  of  Christ  who  is  separated  from  us  by  a  vast 
gulf  of  nearly  two  thousand  years,  or  worse  still,  make  the  bond  of 
fellowship  consist  in  a  mere  imitation  of  the  virtues  of  Christ,  the 
perfect  man.  With  us,  beloved  brethren,  how  different !  Our  glori- 
ous heritage  is  not  merely  the  life  and  death  of  a  perfect  man,  whose 
virtues  we  are  called  upon  to  reverence  and  to  imitate,  but  the 
life  and  death  of  the  Man-God,  Christ  Jesus,  our  Origin,  our  Lord, 
and  our  Destiny.  We  know  and  believe  that  His  death  upon  the 
Cross  does  not  merely  hide  our  sins  from  the  anger  of  His  avenging 
Father,  but  washes  them  as  "white  as  snow"  (Isaias  i,  18),  if  we 
but  choose  to  drink  of  the  fountains  of  His  redeeming  Blood,  as  it 
flows  forever  in  the  mercy  of  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  and  the  seven 
divine  channels  of  the  Redemption. 

This  common  heritage  of  the  perpetual  sacrifice  of  adoration, 
thanksgiving,  propitiation,  and  impetration — this  common  share  in 
the  seven  sources  of  supernatural  life  and  holiness — this  common 
treasury  of  prayers  and  good  works  which  the  children  of  the 
redeemed  lay  up  daily  for  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  (Matt,  xix,  21), 
and  for  their  brethren — this  Life  of  the  Grace  of  God  constitutes  the 
Communion  of  Saints  upon  earth.  Wherever  Mass  is  said,  wherever 
Jesus  Christ  is  received  in  the  Eucharistic  communion,  the  priest 
and  people  pray,  not  only  for  themselves  or  for  a  few  chosen  souls, 
but  for  every  member  of  Christ's  mystical  Body.  Whether  they 
pray  in  the  churches,  in  the  convents,  in  their  homes,  in  their  work- 
shops, the  eyes  of  all  the  faithful  are  directed  to  the  Cross  of  the 
Altar — Calvary,  and  their  hearts  go  out  in  love  and  compassion  for 
their  brethren  of  the  Communion  of  Saint's. 

They  are  all  fighting  for  the  one  reward,  they  are  all  meeting  with 
the  same  trials  and  hardships,  they  are  all  enjoying  the  same  bless- 
ings. "If  one  member  suffer  anything,  all  the  members  suffer  with 
it;  or  if  one  member  glory,  all  the  members  rejoice  with  it"  (I  Cor. 
xii,  26).  And  so  these  millions  help  one  another  by  constantly 
asking  Jesus  to  comfort  the  sorrowing,  to  help  the  wavering,  to 
succor  the  strongly  tempted,  to  convert  the  man  of  little  faith  or 
hope  or  love.  Who  can  estimate  the  efficacy  of  such  prayers  ?  Who 
can  dream  of  the  miracles  of  conversion  that  they  work  ?  Only  our 


THE    COMMUNION    OF    SAINTS.  287 

Saviour  can  tell  us,  when  we  meet  Him  in  the  Kingdom  of  His 
Father. 

The  world  is  often  lavish  in  its  praise  of  those  Orders  of  religious 
men  and  women,  who  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen,  sacrifice  their 
lives  among  the  lepers,  or  devote  themselves  day  after  day  to  the 
sick,  the  aged  and  the  suffering.  But  they  find  it  hard  to  give  one 
word  of  praise  to  those  cloistered  souls,  vrho  "do  nothing"  as  they 
say,  "but  pray." 

We  of  the  Communion  of  Saints,  taught  by  the  Holy  Spirit  the 
divine  efficacy  of  prayer,  know  that  these  souls  are  making  up  for 
the  great  lack  of  prayer  in  the  world.  They  are  asking  God's  mercy 
upon  the  hardened  sinner,  beseeching  the  conversion  of  the  pagan, 
the  unbeliever  and  the  heretic,  atoning  for  the  blasphemies  of  the 
renegade  Catholic,  sustaining  the  active  ones  who  labor  for  Christ 
amid  the  busy  world  unmindful  of  Him.  Only  the  day  of  judgment 
will  reveal  to  us  all  the  good  wrought  by  these  hidden  saints  of  the 
cloister. 

The  doctrine  of  indulgences,  so  hard  for  an  outsider  to  grasp,  is 
intimately  connected  with  the  dogma  of  the  Communion  of  Saints. 
We  may  have  received  the  Sacrament  of  Penance,  and  have  been 
forgiven  our  grievous  sins,  and  the  eternal  punishment  they  de- 
served; but  still  there  may  remain  a  debt  of  temporal  punishment 
which  we  must  pay  here  or  hereafter.  The  Church  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  Christ  not  only  claims  the  power  of  pardoning  sin, 
but  of  remitting  part  or  all  of  the  punishment  it  deserves.  She 
goes  to  her  spiritual  treasury  of  the  merits  of  Christ  and  His  saints, 
and  when  cleansed  of  sin  we  have  manifested  our  good-will  by  our 
fasting,  our  prayers,  or  our  alms-giving,  she  applies  to  us  indi- 
vidually, according  to  our  love,  the  merits  which  will  free  us  par- 
tially or  wholly  from  the  debt'  of  temporal  punishment.  How  false 
to  say  that  an  indulgence  is  a  permission  to  commit  sin,  when  the 
first  condition  of  gaining  it  is  to  be  free  from  all  grievous  sin. 

2.   The  Church  Triumphant. 

The  faithful  who  have  "fought  the  good  fight'  and  attained  eternal 
life"  (I  Tim.  vi,  12)  in  the  perfect  happiness  of  the  Beatific  Vision, 
are  known  as  the  Church  Triumphant.  The  communion  between 
them  and  us  consists  in  their  making  continual  intercession  for  us 


288  THE    CREED, 

before  the  throne  of  God,  and  in  our  invoking  their  prayers,  imita- 
ting their  virtues,  and  honoring  them  as  God's  special  friends. 

Protestant  Christians,  although  they  repeat  the  words  of  the  sym- 
bol "I  believe  in  the  Communion  of  Saints,"  deny  this  intercom- 
munion. They  hold  that  the  saints  in  heaven  are  totally  ignorant  of 
what  happens  upon  earth,  and  that  therefore  it  is  useless  for  us  to 
ask  their  intercession. 

By  such  a  denial  they  separate  themselves  from  the  teaching  of 
Christian  antiquity  and  contradict  the  Word  of  God  they  pretend 
so  much  to  reverence.  St.  Paul  assures  the  early  Christians  of  their 
fellowship  with  the  angels  and  saints  in  heaven,  and  surely  the  fel- 
lowship he  describes  can  not  imply  ignorance,  indifference,  or  dis- 
union. "You  are  come  to  Mt.  Sion  and  to  the  City  of  the  living 
God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem,  and  to  the  company  of  many  thou- 
sands of  angels,  and  to  the  church  of  the  first  born,  who  are 
written  in  the  heavens,  and  to  God  the  judge  of  all,  and  to  the 
spirits  of  the  just  made  perfect',  and  to  Jesus"  (Heb.  xii,  22-24). 

St.  James  tells  us  that  "the  continual  prayer  of  a  just  man  avail- 
eth  much"  (v,  16),  and  the  Bible  insists  frequently  on  the  efficacy  of 
intercessory  prayer  in  this  life  (Gen.  xviii;  Ex.  xvii;  Job  xlii;  Rom. 
xv,  30;  Eph.  vi,  18;  I  Thess.  v,  28).  Is  it  reasonable  to  suppose  that 
the  face  to  face  vision  of  God  deprives  a  saint  of  the  power  of  prayer 
he  possessed  while  upon  earth?  The  early  Christians  did  not  think 
so,  for  hardly  had  a  martyr  died  for  Christ  than  his  brethren  asked 
the  help  of  his  prayers.  How  beautifully  Catholic  is  the  letter  of 
the  martyr  Bishop  Cyprian  writing  to  Pope  Cornelius  in  the  third 
century:  "If  one  of  us  shall,  by  the  speediness  of  the  divine  dis- 
pensation, depart  hence  the  first,  let  our  love  continue  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Lord ;  let  not  prayer  for  our  brethren  and  sisters  cease 
in  the  presence  of  the  mercy  of  the  Father"  (Ad.  Cornel.  57). 

But,  say  our  Protestant  brethren,  does  not  the  intercession  of  the 
saints  detract  from  the  glory  due  to  Christ  the  Saviour,  and  depre- 
ciate the  infinite  merits  of  His  mediation?  By  no  means.  For  the 
intercession  of  Christ  is  unique  and  totally  distinct  from  the  inter- 
cession of  His  followers  in  heaven.  He  is  the  one  Mediator  of  jus- 
tice in  virtue  of  His  redemption,  according  to  the  Apostle :  "There 
is  one  Mediator  of  God  and  men — the  man  Christ  Jesus,  who  gave 
himself  a  redemption  for  all"  (I  Tim.  ii,  5,  6).  The  saint's  are  the 
mediators  of  grace,  and  are  helpful  to  us  only  by  virtue  of  their 
union  with  Him.  Their  mediation,  therefore,  being  in  a  true  sense 


THE    COMMUNION    OF    SAINTS.  289 

His  own,  instead  of  detracting  from  His  glory  and  honor,  tends 
to  increase  both.  It  is  childish  to  believe  that  He  is  insulted,  if  His 
loved  ones  add  their  strong  prayers  to  our  feeble  ones. 

But  why  not  go  to  God  directly,  continue  our  objectors?  Does 
not  the  divine  invitation  read:  "Come  unto  me,  all  ye  that  labor?" 
(Matt,  xi,  28).  Catholics  answer  this  appeal  more  frequently  and 
more  really  than  any  outsider  can  when  they  vsit  the  Eucharistic 
Christ  at  the  holy  sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  and  receive  Him  into  their 
hearts  in  holy  communion  (John  vi,  57). 

The  revelation  of  God  assures  us  that  the  same  law  holds  in  things 
divine  as  in  things  human.  If  I  desire  a  favor  of  a  man,  I  may  ask 
him  directly,  or  indirectly  through  his  wife  or  a  personal  friend. 
The  request  ultimately  must  come  to  him.  So  it  is  in  the  super- 
natural life.  I  may  always  pray  to  God  through  His  only  Son,  or 
feeling  a  sense  of  God's  majesty  and  my  own  unworthiness,  I  may 
pray  the  saints  to  plead  my  case  in  the  presence  of  the  Lord.  The 
saints  no  more  interfere  with  our  access  to  Christ  than  the  pipe  which 
carries  the  water  from  the  reservoir  prevents  that  water  from  enter- 
ing our  houses.  They  are  links  in  the  great  chain  of  the  Christian 
fellowship,  uniting  us  one  with  the  other  in  the  bond  of  divine  love. 
Like  the  angels  of  God,  these  children  of  the  resurrection  (Matt, 
xxii,  30;  Luke  xx,  36),  rejoice  when  one  sinner  does  penance  (Luke 
xv,  10),  and  guard  us  from  the  danger  of  becoming  aliens  to  their 
Lord  and  King  (Matt,  xviii,  10).  As  members  of  a  household 
pray  unceasingly  for  the  repentant  home-coming  of  the  prodigal 
son  or  the  erring  daughter — as  sailors  making  port  think  constantly 
of  those  still  facing  the  dangers  of  the  storm,  so  our  triumphant 
brethren  think  continually  of  us  and  our  struggles,  and  pray  that 
we  too  may  soon  be  blessed  with  their  divine  joy  and  peace. 

Every  saint'  in  heaven,  moreover,  says  to  us  with  St.  Paul :  "Be  ye 
followers  of  me,  as  I  also  am  of  Christ"  (I  Cor.  xi,  i).  Just  as  the 
state  keeps  alive  the  patriotic  spirit  by  pointing  constantly  to  the 
lives  of  her  past  heroes,  so  the  Church  Catholic  stirs  our  languid 
souls  to  a  more  perfect  following  of  Christ  by  holding  up  to  us 
the  heroes  of  purity,  patience,  humility,  self-sacrifice,  and  love. 

It  is  one  of  the  great  fruits  of  the  Communion  of  Saints,  that 
sinners,  in  their  struggles  or  their  despair,  can  think  of  their 
brethren,  men  and  women  like  themselves,  who  have  fought  the 
good  fight  to  the  end. 


29%  THE   CREED. 

3.    The  Church  Suffering. 

The  faithful  who  have  died  in  slight  sin,  or  who  have  not  paid  to 
the  last  farthing  (Matt,  v,  26)  the  punishment  due  their  transgres- 
sions are  known  as  the  Church  Suffering.  The  communion  between 
them  and  us  consists  in  our  praying  for  their  release  from  suffering, 
and,  according  to  a  pious  belief,  in  their  praying  for  our  salvation. 

It  does  not  fall  within  our  scope  at  present  to  prove  the  existence 
of  purgatory.  Prayers  for  the  faithful  departed  and  the  existence  of 
an  intermediate  state  are  mentioned  repeatedly  in  the  Scriptures  (II 
Mach.  xii,  43-46),  the  writings  of  the  early  Fathers,  the  catacomb  in- 
scriptions, and  the  early  liturgies.  We  simply  call  attention  to  the 
comfort  it  gives  the  Catholic  to  know  with  infallible  certainty  that 
death  does  not  separate  him  utterly  from  his  beloved.  What  despair 
in  the  heart  of  the  unbeliever,  when,  uncertain  of  the  hereafter,  he 
cremates  the  body  of  a  beloved  wife !  What  emptiness  in  the  heart 
of  a  Protestant  who  believes  that  the  dead  beloved  sleeps  on  uncon- 
scious until  the  day  of  resurrection!  We  on  the  contrary  follow 
our  dead  beyond  the  veil.  We  see  the  justice  of  God's  punishment, 
for  we  realize  His  all-holiness,  and  the  manifold  transgressions  of 
the  soul  departed.  We  have  Masses  said,  and  ask  God  to  apply  the 
infinite  merits  of  His  Christ;  we  offer  up  the  good  works  we  do  in 
a  state  of  grace,  and  the  Church  of  God  draws  from  her  spiritual 
treasury  her  indulgences  for  their  release ;  we  pray  unceasingly  that 
God's  mercy  grant  them  eternal  rest  and  peace. 

They  in  turn  pray  constantly  that  God's  grace  help  us  to  be  faith- 
ful even  to  the  end,  if  we  may  trust  the  pious  belief  of  devout  souls. 
At  any  rate  we  are  certain,  that  even  if  they  are  unable  to  help  us 
now,  they  will  one  day  out  of  gratitude  remember  us  before  God's 
throne. 

Such  in  brief,  beloved  brethren,  is  the  Catholic  dogma  of  the 
Communion  of  Saints.  Let  its  one  lesson  be  "the  supporting  of 
one  another  in  charity,  careful  to  keep  the  unity  of  the  spirit  in 
the  bond  of  peace"  (Eph.  iv,  2,  3).  There  is  no  narrowness  in  the 
communion :  "There  is  neither  Jew  nor  Greek ;  there  is  neither  bond 
nor  free;  there  is  neither  male  nor  female;  for  you  are  all  one  in 
Christ  Jesus"  (Gal.  iii,  28).  The  true  Catholic  rises  superior  to 
every  natural  dictate  of  party  spirit,  whether  it  be  the  hatred  of  men 
of  different  nationality,  the  bitterness  born  of  persecution  in  days 
past,  or  the  despising  of  the  poor,  the  lowly,  and  the  sinner. 


THE    COMMUNION    OF    SAINTS.  291 

Are  you  Catholics — brethren  of  a  marvelous  interworld  brother- 
hood, founded  by  Christ  Jesus,  the  Creator,  Redeemer,  and  Destiny 
of  all  men  ?  Then  let  your  hearts  go  out  to  those  who  are  "without 
Christ,  being  aliens  from  the  conversation  of  Israel,  and  strangers 
to  the  testament"  (Eph.  ii,  12).  The  Head  of  the  Communion  of 
Saints  died  for  them  all,  and  is  anxious  that  "all  be  saved,  and 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth"  (I  Tim.  ii,  4).  The  saints 
reigning  gloriously  with  God,  many  of  whom  spent  their  lives  like  St. 
Paul  working  for  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles,  make  continual 
intercession  for  those  who  "wander  where  there  is  no  way"  (Job 
xii,  24).  The  saints  suffering  in  purgatory,  secure  of  their  own 
salvation,  offer  up  their  sufferings  that  the  other  sheep  return  to 
the  fold  of  the  One  Shepherd  (John  x,  16). 

It  will  be  one  of  the  joys  of  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  to  have 
many  souls  thank  us  for  the  prayers  we  prayed  that  they  might 
obtain  through  the  merits  of  Christ  the  grace  to  enter  the  eternal 
communion  of  all  the  saints  of  God. 


THE   CREED. 


XXXIV.    THE  REMISSION  OF  SINS. 

BY  THE  REV.   DR.   C.   BRUEHL. 
"Whose  sins  you  shall  forgive,  they  are  forgiven."— John  xx. 

SYNOPSIS — Awful  state  of  the  sinner:  his  utter  helplessness;  he  is  dead, 
the  hours  waiting  to  bury  him  in  hell.  Is  there  nothing  to  prevent  this 
terrible  doom?  Confession  is  the  remedy. 

I.  Institution  of  Confession.     Wonderful  charm  surrounding   this 
scene.    Air  of  peace.    Christ  makes  the  Apostles  judges  of  sin,  for  here 
is  a  double  sentence  of  forgiveness  and  retaining.     The  judgment  of 
mercy  in  the  confessional  compared  to  the  last  judgment.    Objects:  The 
sinner  will  deal  with  God  immediately.    How  dare  you  appear  before 
Him,  whom  you  have  so  grievously  offended.     Why  reveal  sins  to  a  frail 
man?    This  is  a  merciful  condescension. 

II.  The  requirement  for  Confession  in  harmony  with  human  nature. 
Nature  itself  relieved  by  a  confession    of    the  crime    committed.    Self- 
knowledge  condition  of  amendment.    Confession  forces  it  upon  us.    Con- 
fession sign  of  good  will  and  earnest  of  amendment.    Confession  humili- 
ating, destroys  greatest  enemy  of  conversion — pride. 

III.  Its  blessings.    Gives  security  and  peace,  because  certainty  of 
forgiveness.    Individual  exhortations  in  confessional,  which  we  can  not 
evade.    Resists  the  beginnings  of  crime.    Restitution.    Blessings  for  indi- 
vidual.   Family  society.    If  in  sin,  hasten  to  the  confessional.    Nothing 
can  destroy  sin  but  the  absolution  of  the  priest.    Better  this  judgment  of 
mercy  than  the  terrible  sentence  of  the  inexorable  Judge  of  last  judgment. 

Dear  Friends :  St.  John  describes  the  terrible  condition  of  him  who 
has  fallen  into  mortal  sin.  These  are  his  words :  "I  know  thy  works, 
that  thou  hast  the  name  of  being  alive  and  thou  art  dead."  And 
such  is  indeed  the  deplorable  state  of  the  sinner :  it  is  spiritual  death. 
Having  lost  sanctifying  grace,  he  has  forfeited  the  supernatural  life. 
In  the  eyes  of  God  he  is  a  corpse,  a  repulsive,  loathsome  object,  fit 
only  to  be  hurried  out  of  his  sight  and  hidden  in  darkness.  The 
more  awful  is  this  state,  as  the  sinner  in  the  eyes  of  the  world  retains 
the  outward  semblances  of  life.  He  performs  his  daily  duties,  he 
practices  his  religion,  he  does  good  deeds;  yet  all  the  while  he  is 
dead  at  heart.  There  is  something  ghastly  and  appalling  in  this 
thought.  It  is  not,  however,  exaggerated ;  but  faithfully  portrays  the 
reality.  For  even  Our  Lord  Himself  calls  the  Pharisees  whitened 
graves  filled  with  decay  and  dead  men's  bones. 

We  then  understand  the  utter  helplessness  of  the  sinner ;  his  com- 
plete inability  to  rise  from  his  sad  condition.  He  can  do  nothing 


THE    REMISSION    OF    SINS.  293 

for  himself;  his  lips  are  sealed  by  the  silence  of  death;  his  ear  is 
closed  against  the  call  of  penance;  he  can  not  uplift  his  hands  in 
prayer.  His  faith  has  become  languid  and  powerless;  the  flame  of 
love  is  extinguished  in  his  heart.  And  the  fleeting  hours  are  waiting 
to  carry  him,  the  spiritual  corpse,  out  of  this  worW  and  bury  him 
in  hell.  * 

Is  there  nothing  to  avert  this  dreadful  doom  ?  Is  there  no  hope  for 
the  sinner?  Is  there  no  balm  in  Gilead  for  the  fatal  wound  of  sin? 
Ah,  my  friends,  it  is  wonderful,  but  true;  there  exists  a  remedy; 
there  is  distilled  a  healing  balm  for  the  mortal  wounds  of  sin.  And 
this  precious  balm  oozes  from  the  tree  of  the  Cross ;  it  is  the  Blood 
of  our  Redeemer.  For  to  save  us  from  hell,  to  restore  us  to  the  life 
of  grace,  He  shed  His  divine  Blood  and  prepared  an  infallible  anti- 
dote against  sin. 

And  we  are  eager  to  learn,  in  whose  hands  this  life-giving  rem- 
edy is  deposited,  under  what  conditions  we  may  be  brought  back 
to  the  life  of  grace.  We  anxiously  inquire:  "Who  will  open  the 
bolts  of  the  grave  of  sin?"  It  is  our  Lord  who  condescends  to 
answer:  "Go,  show  yourselves  to  the  priests"  (Luke  xvii,  14).  For 
to  them  He  has  said :  "Whose  sins  you  shall  forgive,  they  are  for- 
given." 

We  know  that  this  power  of  forgiveness  is  exercised  in  the  Sac- 
rament of  Penance;  familiarly  spoken  of  as  Confession.  Let  us 
therefore  meditate  on  (a)  the  institution  of  Confession,  (b)  its  con- 
formity to  human  nature,  and  (c)  its  great  utility. 

I.  We  open  the  Gospel  record  and  read :  "Now  when  it  was  late 
that  same  day,  and  the  doors  were  shut,  where  the  disciples  were 
gathered  together,  Jesus  came  and  stood  in  the  midst,  and  said  to 
them :  Peace  be  to  you."  "As  the  Father  hath  sent  me,  I  also  send 
you."  When  He  had  said  this,  He  breathed  on  them  ;  and  He  said  to 
them :  "Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost :  Whose  sins  you  shall  forgive, 
they  are  forgiven  them;  and  whose  sins  you  shall  retain,  they  are 
retained."  An  unusual  charm  surrounds  this  scene.  A  note  of 
tenderness  rings  in  the  words  of  Our  Lord.  Everything  is  wrapped 
in  an  atmosphere  of  calm  and  peace.  It  is  as  though  Our  Lord 
brought  the  peace  and  happiness  of  another  world  to  His  disciples. 
This  peace  is  the  fruit  of  His  Cross ;  the  sweet  blossom  of  His  suffer- 
ing and  its  perfume  fills  their  hearts.  He  brings  peace,  for  He  con- 
quered the  enemies  of  peace,  sin  and  death,  the  jarring  discords  in 
our  life.  He  came  into  this  world  to  overthrow  the  rule  of  sin 


294  THE   CREED. 

and  deliver  men  from  the  slavery  of  death.  And  He  was  victorious, 
and  now  is  peace.  But  yet  sin  remains  and  will  forever  disturb 
this  sacred  peace,  this  holy  truce  of  God.  And  therefore  the  power 
over  sin  must  remain  with  men,  that  it  may  not  again  enslave  the 
world.  Thus  Our  Lord  promises  us  the  Spirit  of  holiness,  the  Holy 
Ghost,  who  upbuilds  the  kingdom  of  God  in  our  hearts  and  sancti- 
fies the  souls.  And  He  commits  to  His  disciples  the  direct  power 
over  sin.  They  can  remit  sin,  destroy  sin,  and  give  peace,  even  as 
Our  Lord  overcame  sin  and  earned  peace.  "Whose  sins  you  shall 
forgive,  they  are  forgiven." 

But  this  power  of  forgiveness  is  to  be  exercised  not  in  the  form 
of  a  general  pardon  and  amnesty;  but  in  the  form  of  a  judicial 
verdict.  "Whose  sins  you  shall  retain,  they  are  retained."  Where 
there  is  more  than  one  sentence  possible,  there  must  be  a  judgment, 
a  deliberation  on  the  case,  an  inquest;  there  the  matter  of  the  judg- 
ment must  be  examined  and  accordingly  brought  before  the  judge. 
Christ,  therefore,  makes  His  Apostles  judges  over  sin  and  sinner. 
He  erects  a  tribunal,  wherein  sin  may  be  accused  and  remitted.  He 
gives  His  Apostles  the  power  in  some  cases,  as  they  may  judge  fit,  to 
retain  sin  and  refuse  forgiveness  for  the  time  being.  But  if  the 
Apostles  are  the  judges,  then  sin  must  be  declared  and  denounced 
before  them  and  the  sinner  must  abide  their  decision.  He  humbly 
must  declare  his  transgressions,  for  he  alone  knows  them.  Yes,  the 
sacramental  absolution  is  a  judgment,  a  sentence;  and  the  confes- 
sional is  a  tribunal,  a  court  of  justice.  And  it  reminds  us  of  another 
sentence  that  will  be  pronounced  over  sin,  that  of  the  last  judgment. 
How  great  the  difference.  Here  a  whispered  accusation  under  the 
seal  of  everlasting  silence;  there  a  confounding  accusation  before 
the  whole  world,  overwhelming  the  sinner  with  shame  and  disgrace ; 
here  a  remission  of  sin,  a  perfect  reconciliation  or  in  the  very  worst 
case  a  delay  of  forgiveness;  there  an  irreversible  verdict  of  guilty 
and  eternal  condemnation.  God  has  forestalled  that  terrible  judgment 
of  His  wrath  by  a  judgment  of  mercy.  Yes  a  judgment  it  remains, 
for  the  world  must  be  convinced  of  sin,  and  of  justice,  and  of  judg- 
ment. But  Christ  has  contrived  to  satisfy  the  demands  of  justice  and 
of  mercy.  He  has  set  up  a  tribunal  of  justice,  in  which,  however, 
justice  is  almost  effaced  and  annulled  by  mercy. 

Thus  the  sinner  to  receive  remission  of  sins  and  peace  of  soul,  must 
submit  his  crimes  to  the  sentence  of  the  judge,  established  by 
Christ.  This  is  that  glorious  power  of  the  keys,  that  unlocks  the 


THE   REMISSION    OF   SINS.  295 

chains  of  sin,  unbolts  the  gates  of  death  and  snatches  the  victim 
from  the  jaws  of  hell.  "Show  yourselves  to  the  priests,"  that  they 
may  judge  your  failings  mercifully  and  blot  out  your  misdeeds. 

You  object,  my  friends ;  you  will  not  show  yourselves  to  the  priests  ? 
You  will  deal  immediately  with  God  and  receive  pardon  at  his  hands  ? 

Ah,  with  your  soul  stained  and  black,  your  hands  red  with  iniquity, 
you  would  dare  to  appear  before  the  face  of  God,  who  is  a  consuming 
fire  ?  You  would  argue  your  case  with  God,  the  All-holy  ?  Who  will 
stand  the  searching  eye  of  the  Lord  ?  I  could  understand  your  pre- 
sumption, if  you  had  offended  God  once,  and  by  some  slight  trans- 
gression. But  repeatedly  you  have  offended  Him,  outraged  His 
majesty,  and  heaped  injury  on  injury.  And  yet  you  would  dare  to 
speak  to  Him  face  to  face  ?  Nay,  my  friends,  if  we  have  grievously 
insulted  another  man,  we  are  ashamed  to  appear  in  his  presence,  we 
dare  not  anticipate  his  pardon.  We  seek  the  intervention  of  a 
friend,  who  will  ask  pardon  in  our  name.  No,  if  you  understand  at 
all  the  gravity  of  your  repeated  offences,  you  will  not  presume  to 
appear  before  the  face  of  God,  before  you  have  the  assurance  of  His 
forgiveness. 

Again  you  say :  Why  should  I  unveil  my  shortcomings  to  a  weak 
and  frail  man  ?  Thank  God,  that  it  is  a  frail  man,  who  is  appointed 
your  judge;  a  man  who  sympathizes  with  you  because  he  himself 
struggles  against  sin  and  temptation.  You  can  only  gain  by  this 
substitution.  How  severe  would  an  angel  judge  us,  he  who  has 
never  experienced  the  revolt  of  the  flesh,  who  is  as  remote  from  our 
daily  imperfections  as  the  sun  is  from  the  earth.  This  is  a  merciful 
tribunal,  because  frail  man  judges  his  erring  brother  in  the  name  of 
Him,  who  would  not  condemn  the  wretched  adultress,  who  would 
not  extinguish  the  smoking  flax,  who  ate  with  sinners  and  forgave 
the  thief  on  the  cross. 

II.  I  doubt  whether  in  any  Sacrament  the  requirements  of  validity 
are  as  much  and  patently  in  harmony  with  human  nature  and  the 
demands  of  sound  reason,  as  in  the  Sacrament  of  Penance.  Alone 
from  this  manifest  conformity  to  human  needs,  we  might  infer  its 
divine  origin.  For  who  understands  better  our  nature  than  God,  our 
Maker,  and  He  who  has  borne  our  infirmities ;  who  could  therefore 
provide  better  for  our  needs  and  wants.  The  Sacrament  of  Penance, 
and  more  especially  Confession,  hears  in  all  the  stamp  of  a  divine 
work. 

There  is  no  burden  weighing  heavier  on  our  souls,  than  that  of 


ag6 


THE   CREED. 


guilt;  no  sting  rankling  more  virulently  in  our  hearts  than  the 
memory  of  a  secret,  shameful  crime ;  no  pain  that  can  be  compared 
to  the  torture  of  remorse.  The  sin  we  have  committed  will  be  with 
us  as  our  very  shadow;  when  we  least  think  of  it,  suddenly  that 
shadow  falls  across  our  path,  startling  and  alarming  our  mind;  it 
accompanies  us  to  our  restless  couch  and  stares  at  us  with  re- 
proachful eyes.  The  memory  of  their  crime  has  driven  criminals 
stark  mad ;  it  has  pursued  them,  haunted  them  as  a  frightful  specter, 
till  they  sought  rest  and  peace  of  mind  under  the  very  shadow  of  the 
gallows  and  courted  death  by  delivering  themselves  to  the  earthly 
judge.  Everyone  has  experienced  the  wonderful  relief  and  peace, 
that  follows  upon  the  avowal  of  our  fault ;  how  light  and  blithe  does 
our  heart  feel  after  we  have  unbosomed  the  secret  of  our  guilt. 
However,  there  are  faults,  committed  in  some  dark  hour  of  weakness, 
that  make  the  tide  of  shame  rush  to  our  brows,  which  we  would 
not  reveal  to  any  one  at  the  peril  of  our  life.  And  meanwhile  they 
torment  our  soul,  prey  on  our  mind,  hover  about  us  as  somber 
specters.  At  times  then  we  crave  and  long  to  reveal  that  secret  of 
our  shame,  but  we  dare  not,  for  we  would  destroy  our  good  name, 
and  even  offend  our  friends.  But  there  is  one  to  whom  we  may 
reveal  our  shame,  into  whose  ear  we  may  pour  our  tale  of  disgrace, 
without  endangering  our  honor  and  fortune.  It  is  the  priest  in  the 
confessional.  He  is  ever  ready  to  listen  to  your  revelation,  of  your 
sad  weakness ;  is  appointed  by  God  to  be  the  confidential  friend  of 
the  sinner,  whose  lips  burn  to  free  themselves  from  their  terrible 
secret ;  and  when  you  are  freed  from  your  anxiety,  peace  is  restored 
to  your  mind,  the  voice  of  remorse  is  silenced;  and  your  secret  is 
buried  in  the  priest's  heart,  as  though  you  had  sunk  it  in  the  depths 
of  the  ocean ;  for  his  lips  are  sealed  with  a  silence  as  the  silence  of 
death. 

Nothing  is  more  important  for  our  self-improvement,  more  con- 
ducive to  a  change  of  life  than  a  knowledge  of  self  and  our  past 
failings.  Generally  we  are  little  aware  of  the  many  disorders  in  our 
daily  life ;  we  do  not  reflect,  and  continue  in  our  frivolity  and  wicked- 
ness. If  one  would  place  a  mirror  before  our  soul,  and  let  us  see 
the  imperfections  and  shortcomings  of  even  one  day,  we  would  be 
terrified  at  the  sight  of  such  a  number  of  sins  and  their  gravity ;  we 
would  walk  more  cautiously,  do  penance  and  lead  a  better  life. 
The  holy  Sacrament  of  Penance  forces  this  wholesome,  but  not 
always  relished,  knowledge  of  self  and  our  sins  upon  us.  Since  it 


THE   REMISSION    OF   SINS.  297 

requires  a  detailed  accusation  of  our  faults,  it  makes  an  examination 
of  our  conscience  necessary.  Many  would  never  reflect  on  their 
lives,  never  probe  their  hearts,  never  be  brought  face  to  face  with  all 
their  imperfections,  were  it  not  for  the  examination  of  conscience, 
exacted  by  the  Sacrament  of  Penance.  Even  for  this  one  reason 
Confession  is  highly  salutary  and  helpful,  because  it  compels  us  to 
know  ourselves,  and  acquaints  us  with  the  many  sins  we  thought- 
lessly commit. 

Knowledge  of  ourt  faults  is  the  condition  of  an  amendment  of  life ; 
an  honest  acknowledgment  of  them  is  the  beginning  of  this  amend- 
ment, the  first  step  on  the  highroad  of  conversion.  We  all  know 
this:  the  child,  that  will  not  own  its  misdeed,  is  not  sorry  for  it; 
the  man  who  will  not  acknowledge  that  he  has  wronged  his  neighbor, 
does  not  deserve  pardon.  If  you  have  before  you  a  lad  with  tightly 
screwed  lips,  not  admitting  his  fault,  though  he  was  caught  red- 
handed,  you  give  him  up  as  incorrigible.  As  long  as  we  do  not 
confess  our  faults,  we  still  cling  to  them,  we  have  not  entirely  given 
them  up.  Therefore  God  requires  a  confession,  an  avowal  of  our 
guilt;  thereby  we  internally  separate  ourselves  from  our  sins  and 
disentangle  our  hearts  from  evil  inclinations.  A  man  that  confesses 
and  condemns  his  former  life,  means  to  start  a  new  life.  Bring  a 
man  to  confess  his  misdeeds  and  he  is  converted;  as  long  as  he 
cherishes  them  in  his  heart,  a  confession  will  never  come  from  his 
lips. 

Moreover,  the  root  of  all  sins  is  pride.  The  remedy  is  humiliation. 
And  Confession  is  this  bitter  but  excellent  medicine.  Yes,  it  is  hu- 
miliating to  reveal  one's  sins  and  wounds  to  a  priest ;  but  how  happy 
the  result ;  that  fatal  root  of  sin,  ever  fertile  and  ever  bringing  forth 
new  sprouts,  is  pruned;  the  obstinate  heart  is  softened  and  bent 
under  the  yoke  of  Christ;  the  most  dangerous  passion  is  overcome 
and  peace  and  serenity  enter  into  our  bosom  that  was  chilled  and 
choked  by  pride.  You  will  never  see  a  man  who  has  made  an  honest 
confession,  despite  the  confusion  covering  his  brow,  leave  the  con- 
fessional with  a  tightened,  gloomy  face.  Everything  is  ease,  self- 
possession,  calm,  joy,  and  light-heartedness. 

III.  In  the  preceding  point  we  have  seen  the  beneficial  influence 
the  Sacrament  of  Penance  exerts  on  man,  because  its  requirements 
are  so  perfectly  in  harmony  with  human  nature.  But  there  are 
other  blessings,  which  we  will  now  contemplate  in  detail. 

I  will  illustrate  one  of  these  blessings  by  a  story.    There  was  a 


298 


THE    CREED. 


wayward  boy.  He  had  fallen  into  the  hands  of  bad  companions. 
Sadly  he  disgraced  the  untarnished  name  of  his  father  and  broke 
his  mother's  heart.  Finally  he  left  his  home  not  wishing  to  hear  the 
reproaches  of  his  father  and  the  silent  upbraidings  of  his  own  con- 
science. In  distant  cities  he  continued  his  career  of  debauch  and 
vice,  until  grace  touched  his  heart.  Then  he  hurried  home,  to  obtain 
forgiveness  from  his  father.  Alas!  when  he  reached  his  home  he 
was  told  that  his  father  shortly  after  his  departure  had  died.  Grief 
overwhelmed  the  undutiful  child.  His  friend,  however,  assured  him, 
that  his  father  had  forgiven  him  on  his  deathbed.  "Ah,  but  why  can 
I  not  hear  the  sweet  words  of  forgiveness  from  his  own  lips."  There 
was  nothing  that  would  comfort  and  cheer  him,  and  for  days  he 
was  seen  at  the  grave  lamenting  and  weeping.  "Ah,  if  you  would 
only  open  your  cold  lips  once  more,  to  tell  me  that  you  have  for- 
given your  boy !" 

Yes,  my  friends,  the  internal  conviction  that  we  have  been  for- 
given is  not  enough ;  we  wish  to  have  this  assurance  by  some  outward 
unfailing  sign.  And  as  long  as  we  hear  not  from  our  friends, 
whom  we  have  offended,  the  consoling  tidings  of  pardon  our  heart  is 
ill  at  ease  and  troubled.  Thus  it  is  with  the  sinner :  he  has  offended 
God.  But  who  gives  him  the  assurance  that  he  has  been  forgiven? 
Who  will  tell  him:  Go,  my  friend,  thy  sins  are  forgiven.  The 
Catholic  can  have  this  assurance,  it  is  not  by  conjecture,  that  he 
knows  he  is  pardoned.  Nay,  one  who  is  authorized  by  God  to  give 
him  this  message  of  pardon ;  who  sits  there  in  the  very  place  and  in 
the  name  of  God,  tells  him :  My  friend,  God  forgives ;  I  forgive  your 
sins  in  His  name.  Well,  then,  poor  sinner,  go  in  peace;  you  have 
heard  the  voice  of  God,  as  it  once  rang  in  the  ears  of  Magdalen.  Go 
in  peace ;  thy  sins  are  forgiven.  Therefore,  this  atmosphere  of  peace 
surrounding  the  confessional,  we  leave  it,  not  with  the  vague  sen- 
timent of  forgiveness;  but  with  the  verbal  assurance,  the  perfect 
certainty,  that  our  sins  are  forgiven.  We  have  heard  the  voice  of 
Jesus. 

The  good  that  is  wrought  in  that  little  box,  in  some  obscure 
niche  of  the  church,  is  incalculable.  You  know  how  one  likes  to 
evade  the  practical  conclusions  of  a  sermon,  by  making  himself 
believe  that  they  apply  not  to  him,  but  to  his  neighbor.  Here  this 
self-deception  can  not  crop  up.  The  priest  speaks  to  you,  individu- 
ally; not  vaguely  guessing  and  hinting  at  your  faults,  but  clearly 
having  them  in  view;  touching  the  very  spot.  He  speaks  to  you 


THE    REMISSION    OF    SINS. 


299 


earnestly,  with  all  the  fervor  and  earnestness  of  the  Apostle:  he 
brings  into  play  all  those  powerful  levers  of  eternal  truth  to  move 
and  stir  your  soul.  He  watches  the  first  beginnings  of  sin  and  eviS 
habits,  to  lop  them  off  before  they  have  gained  strength.  Many  a 
crime  has  been  prevented  because  the  confessor  in  time  directed 
the  attention  of  his  penitent  to  the  fatal  harvest  that  those  in- 
clinations of  animosity  would  yield.  And  certainly  there  is  nothing 
shielding  more  effectively  marital  fidelity  and  purity  of  home  life, 
than  Confession.  In  its  first  stages  the  powerful  passion,  that 
ruins  homes  and  wrecks  families,  is  checked  by  the  earnest  appeals 
of  the  confessor.  Is  there  any  better  safeguard  for  our  property 
than  Confession  ?  How  many  restitutions  have  been  made  upon  the 
firm  demand  of  the  confessor?  I  know  families  that  require  no 
other  recommendation  of  their  servants  than  that  they  go  to  Con- 
fession every  month.  Indeed,  the  individual,  the  family,  society, 
owe  a  great  debt  to  Confession.  And  if  some  slander  this  institu- 
tion they  indeed  know  not  what  it  is.  Some  claim  it  encourages 
vice,  because  it  begets  a  false  security ;  does  it  ?  Ah,  my  friend,  go 
to  Confession  and  see  how  the  priest  insists  on  a  thorough  contri- 
tion, on  a  firm  resolution,  on  avoiding  the  occasions,  on  perfect  resti- 
tution. Does  that  encourage  sin? 

My  friends:  If  that  awful  misfortune  of  spiritual  death  has  be- 
fallen you,  if  you  have  become  an  object  of  God's  hatred,  if  your 
place  in  hell  is  mapped  out  for  you,  hasten  to  the  confessional.  Do 
not  delay  your  conversion ;  for  your  days  may  be  measured.  Nothing 
else  can  destroy  sin ;  not  death,  not  the  grave,  nay,  not  hell  itself.  It 
is  only  when  the  hand  of  the  priest  is  raised  and  his  lips  whisper  the 
words :  "I  absolve"  that  your  sin  is  blotted  out  forever.  For  to  him 
was  said:  "Whose  sins  you  shall  forgive,  they  are  forgiven."  Re- 
member there  is  an  inexorable  judgment  awaiting  you  at  the  moment 
of  your  death :  a  judgment  of  unrelenting  justice  and  wrath.  You 
can  forestall  that  sentence  by  a  merciful  sentence  of  pardon  if  you 
humbly  subject  yourself  to  the  tribunal  of  peace.  For  what  is  loosed 
Sere,  is  loosed  in  Heaven,  canceled  for  all  eternity.  Amen. 


300  THE   CREED. 


XXXV.    THE  RESURRECTION  OF  THE  BODY. 

BY  THE  REV.  JOHN  FREELAND. 

"And  he  said  to  me:  Son  of  man,  dost  thou  think  these  bones  shall  live? 
And  I  answered:  O  Lord  God,  thou  knowest." — Ezechiel  xxxvii,  3. 

SYNOPSIS. — /.  The  resurrection  founded  on  sacred  Scripture,  (a)  The 
vision  of  the  Prophet  Ezechiel.  (&)  The  description  of  the  dead  rising 
at  the  last  day  given  in  the  Apocalypse,  (c)  Our  Lord's  words  to  Martha 
at  the  raising  of  Lazarus,  and  their  meaning,  (d)  The  words  and  the 
testimony  of  St.  Paul,  together  with  his  explanation  of  the  resurrection. 

II.  The  resurrection  is  a  mystery  of  our  Faith;  but  a  mystery  is  not 
the  same  thing  as  an  impossibility.    The  surest  fact  on  earth,  namely  our 
own  life,  is  the  greatest  of  mysteries. 

III.  Reason  and  the  resurrection,     (a)  The  tradition  both  of  Juda- 
ism and  of  Christianity  can  not  be  ignored,  as  of  no  account  in  this 
matter.     (&)    The  great  desire  which  all  have  to  enjoy  perpetual  life. 
Together  with  the  creation  of  the  desire  the  object  of  that  desire  has 
been  created  also.     We  have  every  reason  to  suppose  that  the  Creator, 
who  instilled  into  the  heart  of  all  the  wish  for  eternal  life,  intended 
to  fulfil  that  desire,      (c)    God  is  answerable  for  the  firm   conviction' 
which  results  from   the  wish  which  He   has  implanted.     As  He   has 
made  the  hope  of  immortality  so  strong  within  us,  we  can  only  conclude 
that  He  will  fulfil  that  hope,     (d)  God  is  responsible  for  the  good  deeds 
which  now  from  that  hope.    He  would  not  have  us  do  good  by  deceiving 
us  first  of  all. 

IV.  The  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  follows  reasonably 
from  that  of  the  soul.    Our  desire  to  "meet  again"  those  who  have  gone 
before.    This  "meeting  again"  would  hardly  seem  a  satisfactory  one  tf  we 
are  not  to  me/t  in  the  nesh.    Christ  is  the  great  pledge  of  the  resurrec- 
tion.   He  rose;  so  will  mankind.    He  was  the  very  same  on  Easter  day, 
yet  with  differences.    So  shall  we  be  at  the  resurrection  of  the  dead. 

The  whole  passage  from  which  these  words  are  taken  is  not  only 
one  of  the  most  striking  and  dramatic  in  sacred  Writ,  but  is,  at  the 
same  time,  an  illustration,  given  to  us  by  God  Himself,  of  the  im- 
portant doctrine  and  truth  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body.  The 
prophet  was  shown  the  bones  of  the  dead.  Stretched  out  before  him 
were  the  mortal  remains  of  those  who  at  one  time  had  walked  on 
earth,  had  taken  a  part  in  its  affairs,  had  run  their  course  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  rest  of  the  members  of  the  human  race — from 
birth  to  childhood,  from  childhood  to  youth,  and  then,  some  sooner, 
some  later,  had  been  gathered  in  to  "sleep  with  their  fathers."  At 
the  command  of  Almighty  God,  these  are  restored  to  life  in  the 
sight  of  the  prophet  Ezechiel.  Bone  attached  itself  to  bone ;  limb  to 


THE    RESURRECTION    OF    THE    BODY.  301 

limb;  part  to  part;  and  the  union  of  parts  having  been  completed, 
the  body  of  each  one  stood  alive,  moving,  strong,  fitted  to  take  once 
more  a  position,  and  to  play  its  part  in  the  affairs  of  the  world. 

Here,  in  miniature,  we  have  an  example  of  what  in  a  more  perfect 
degree  will  take  place  at  the  last  day.  To  use  the  words  of  St. 
John  in  the  Apocalypse,  the  dead,  great  and  small,  will  stand  before 
the  throne  of  God.  The  grave  will  restore  its  prey.  From  the 
uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  the  scattered  remains  will  be  gathered 
together.  The  sea  will  give  up  its  dead ;  and  from  whatsoever  local- 
ity to  which  the  human  body  had  been  previously  consigned,  and 
out  of  whatever  element  to  which  it  might  have  eventually  been  as- 
similated, thence  the  all  powerful  hand  of  the  Lord  will  bring  it, 
to  meet  with  its  reward  or  its  retribution. 

We  are,  however,  about  to  consider,  not  the  wonderful  solemnity 
and  awe  necessarily  connected  with  a  scene  such  as  that  of  the  resur- 
rection of  the  dead,  but  rather,  what,  at  the  present  day  appears  to 
be  less  and  less  believed  in,  the  fact  that  that  resurrection  will  indeed 
take  place.  This  fact  the  Catholic  accepts  as  a  part  of  his  holy 
faith.  It  is  a  portion  of  the  Revelation  made  by  the  Spirit  of  Truth 
to  the  Church  of  the  living  God.  But,  even  without  the  voice  and 
authority  of  the  Church  in  the  matter,  the  truth  of  this  doctrine  ought 
to  be  evident  to  everyone  acknowledging  the  divine  authorship  of 
sacred  Scripture.  "I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life,"  said  Our 
Lord  on  that  occasion  when  He  raised  Lazarus  from  the  dead.  This 
response,  for  it  was  an  answer  to  an  assertion  made  by  Martha,  the 
sister  of  the  deceased,  has  a  force  of  its  own.  "Thy  brother  shall 
rise  again"  were  the  words  He  had  already  addressed  to  her.  "I 
know  that  he  will  rise  again  at  the  last  day"  was  the  reply  and  this 
was  met  by  a  farther  assertion  of  His,  "I  am  the  resurrection  and 
the  life ;"  meaning  that  as,  through  Him,  and  by  means  of  His  power, 
all  will  rise  again  at  the  last  day,  so,  consequently,  as  He  was 
standing  there  in  the  presence  of  the  dead,  although  four  days  had 
passed  away  since  the  burial,  He  had  only  to  will  it  and  Lazarus 
would  return  to  life  and  health.  Meaning,  moreover,  that  as  the 
resurrection  at  the  last  day  must  of  its  very  nature  be  a  more  difficult 
operation  than  that  of  raising  to  life  one  only  recently  consigned  to 
the  grave,  if,  as  the  sister  had  confessed,  He  could  do  the  former,  it 
must  be  allowed  that  restoration  to  life  of  one  buried  only  four  days 
was  a  comparatively  easy  matter. 

On  the  subject  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  the  Apostle  St.  Paul 


302  THE    CREED. 

speaks  in  particularly  forcible  language.  "Behold,"  he  says,  "I 
tell  you  a  mystery.  We  shall  all  indeed  rise  again,  but  we  shall 
not  all  be  changed.  In  a  moment,  in  the  twinkling  of  an 
eye,  at  the  last  trumpet;  for  the  trumpet  shall  sound  and 
the  dead  shall  rise  again  incorruptible"  (I  Cor.  xv,  51,  52).  So 
intent  is  the  Apostle  on  driving  home  the  truth  on  this  great 
doctrine  that  he  even  stops  to  consider  an  objection.  How,  some 
will  ask,  can  the  dead  rise  again?  In  what  manner?  Under  what 
conditions?  And  the  answer  is  the  well  known  comparison  made 
between  the  grain  of  wheat  and  the  dead  body  which  has  been  laid 
aside.  The  same  great  Creator  who  causes  the  former  to  spring  up 
into  blade,  and  stem,  and  ear  of  corn,  will  also  find  it  by  no  means  be- 
yond the  reach  of  His  power  to  make  the  body  rise  gloriously,  the 
same  indeed,  and  yet  the  same  with  a  difference.  For,  just  as  the 
body  of  Christ,  on  the  morning  of  the  Resurrection,  was  the  same  as 
that  which  had  been  borne  with  so  much  sorrow  away  to  the  tomb 
of  Joseph  of  Arimathea;  just  as,  moreover,  it  possessed  properties 
after  death  which  before  death  it  was  without,  so  the  body  of  each 
one  of  us,  when  risen,  will  be  the  same  as  that  which  was  put  away, 
possessing,  however,  properties  which,  under  the  present  conditions 
of  mortality,  are  unknown  to  us. 

The  Catholic  Church,  following  in  the  footsteps  of  St.  Paul,  ac- 
knowledge that  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  is  a 
mystery;  but  a  mystery  is  very  far  removed  from  being  the  same 
thing  as  an  impossibility.  Nothing  surpasses  in  mystery  the  origin 
and  the  concrete  fact  of  the  life  of  each  one  of  us.  We  can  account 
only  up  to  a  certain  step  for  the  transition  from  nothing  into  some- 
thing, an  action  which  has  really  taken  place  with  every  unit  of  the 
human  race.  Nothing  we  most  assuredly  were.  Most  certainly  two 
centuries  ago  not  one  particle  of  the  construction  of  that  which,  at 
the  present  moment,  goes  to  make  up  our  present  being  can  be  rea- 
sonably accounted  for.  At  some  moment  of  time  between  that  date 
and  now  we  were  made  to  leap  the  chasm  which  divides  being  from 
the  absence  of  being,  in  which  state  our  nothingness  had  found  a 
home.  What  subtle  power  called  us  ?  Who  wrought  this  stupendous 
action  ?  What  reason  can  throw  the  least  ray  of  light  in  the  nature  of 
intellectual  proof  into  the  darkness  which  surrounds  that  mystery? 
Mystery  indeed  it  is;  but  every  breath  we  draw,  and  step  we  take, 
and  action  we  perform  is  a  sensible  proof  that,  far  from  being  impos- 
sible, one  of  the  most  real  things  of  which  we  have  any  knowledge 


THE    RESURRECTION    OF    THE    BODY.  303 

is  this  very  miracle  by  which  we  were  brought  from  non-existence 
into  the  number  of  existing  things. 

Nevertheless,  with  regard  to  this  mystery  of  the  resurrection  of 
the  body  the  intellect  is  the  very  reverse  of  being  silent.  Reasons 
can  be  adduced  to  show  that  not  only  is  the  doctrine  one  which  has  to 
do  with  something  well  within  the  range  of  possibility,  but,  what 
is  more,  something  the  truth  of  which  the  thoughtful  man  can  not 
refuse  to  acknowledge.  To  begin  with,  it  is  surely  dangerous  to 
brush  lightly  aside,  as  it  were  of  no  value,  a  belief  which  the  most 
enlightened  portion  of  humanity  has  held  for  over  the  space  of  two 
thousand  years.  The  Christian  holds  it;  the  Jew  holds  it.  But 
in  these  two  names — Christian  and  Jew — it  will  be  granted  that  we 
are  in  the  presence  of  two  great  societies  which  have  influenced,  by 
pure  intellectual  thought,  the  whole  world  much  more  than  all  the 
rest  of  the  nations  put  together.  Who  has  made  any  advance  upon 
the  truth  of  the  Unity  of  the  Godhead,  a  doctrine  held  by  the  Jewish 
people  at  a  time,  three  thousand  years  ago,  when  the  remaining 
nations  of  the  earth  had  hardly  commenced  to  think  at  all?  Who 
has  improved  upon  the  Eight  Beatitudes  and  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount,  in  which,  it  might  also  be  said  the  charter  of  the  moral  side 
of  the  Christian  is  written  down  and  set  forth  ?  Those  same  societies 
in  the  midst  of  which  originated  such  enlightened  and  such  certain 
truths  as  the  existence  of  the  one,  true,  and  living  God,  and  all  the 
many  virtues  which  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  naturally  suggests 
and  inculcates,  are  those  from  which  mankind  has  received  also  the 
doctrine  of  the  Resurrection  of  the  Flesh.  The  Jewish  religion  is 
full  of  the  resurrection.  Belief  in  it,  and  anxiety  in  regard  to  it,  are 
frequently  expressed  in  its  liturgy,  in  its  prayer-books.  In  the 
Talmud  the  very  question  asked  by  St.  Paul  concerning  the  manner 
in  which  the  body  will  once  more  be  recalled  to  life  is  answered  in 
the  same  or  very  nearly  the  same  way.  An  allusion  is  made  to  the 
grain  of  wheat ;  and  a  quaint  reflection  is  made  by  the  ancient  Jewish 
writer  to  the  effect  that,  as  the  wheat  is  consigned  to  the  earth  de- 
prived of  its  husk  or  chaff,  and  then  rises  again  with  every  ear  pro- 
perly covered,  so  it  can  hardly  be  looked  upon  as  difficult  for  the 
Almighty  to  raise,  even  arrayed  in  garments,  the  human  body  which 
has  been  wrapped  in  burial  clothes  and  thus  placed  in  the  grave.  The 
Jews,  we  repeat,  have  believed  and  taught  the  doctrine  now  for  so 
many  centuries ;  Christians,  as  is  well  known,  have  acknowledged  the 
same  truth  from  the  very  commencement.  Even  were  that  doctrine 


304  THE   CREED. 

nothing  but  an  opinion,  the  opinion  of  two  vast  assemblies  of 
thinkers  such  as  the  members  of  these  religions  would  constitute, 
can  not  be  dismissed  without  some  very  serious  argument  going  to 
prove  the  contrary.  And  such  serious  argument  has  never  yet  been 
set  forth,  or  even  attempted. 

A  little  consideration  will  indeed  make  the  truth  of  the  belief,  even 
from  the  point  of  pure  reasoning,  almost  completely  evident.  We  say 
almost ;  because  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  when  face  to  face  with 
the  subject  of  the  resurrection  we  are  contemplating  a  mystery  of 
our  faith,  and  a  mystery  it  would  hardly  be  were  the  reason  capable 
of  either  perfectly  grasping  it,  or  of  completely  proving  it  by  the 
sole  aid  of  the  intellect  alone. 

The  desire  of  living  forever  is  one  of  the  strongest  of  the  desires 
in  the  human  breast.  Granted  that  at  times,  particularly  in  those  of 
distress,  of  sickness,  of  melancholy,  some  are  known  to  have  ex- 
pressed a  wish  that  life  were  over  and  the  end  at  hand,  still,  there  is 
no  one  who,  had  he  the  offer  of  enjoying  an  existence  freed  from 
everything  which  makes  the  present  life  a  burden,  would  not  eagerly 
close  at  once  with  the  offer.  With  extraordinary  longings  such 
indeed  is  the  state  for  which  all  wish.  The  prospect  of  enjoying  a 
condition  where  care,  pain,  sorrow,  and  any  and  all  of  the  limitations 
of  the  present  life  are  completely  unknown,  is  one  of  the  fairest 
prospects  delighting  the  imagination.  It  fills  the  heart.  It  attracts 
the  whole  mind  of  the  thinking  man.  It  springs  up  spontaneously 
within  the  soul,  and,  having  sprung  up,  it  waters,  like  a  fountain  run- 
ning over,  our  whole  being.  But  God  Himself  instilled  this  strong 
craving  after  immortality.  He  hath  made  us  and  not  we  ourselves. 
Surely  that  very  fact  will  lead  us  very  far  on  the  way  in  coming 
to  the  conclusion  that  an  immortality  is  waiting  ready  to  answer  to 
and  to  fulfill  the  craving  for  which  alone  the  creative  hand  of  God 
is  responsible.  The  infinitely  wise  and  compassionate  Maker  of  the 
human  race  can  not  be  supposed  to  be  engaged  in  amusing  Himself 
at  the  expense  of  the  members  of  the  human  race.  But  He  would 
seem  to  be  so  engaged  if  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  will  not 
some  day  become  a  fact.  For  He  and  He  alone,  it  must  be  re- 
peated, is  responsible  for  our  vehement  and  earnest  desire  of  im- 
mortality, and  He,  so  we  are  asked  to  believe,  having  forced  each 
one  to  wish,  never  intended  to  satisfy  that  wish?  Would  this  be 
like  the  action  of  a  kind  and  beneficent  Creator?  Is  it,  in  the  least, 
in  agreement  with  the  plan  He  has  adopted  in  connection  with  all  of 


THE   RESURRECTION    OF    THE    BODY. 


3°5 


the  other  strong  desires  implanted  by  Himself  within  us?  He  has 
endowed  us  with  no  marked  desire — a  desire,  moreover,  which  is  uni- 
versal in  our  species — without  at  the  same  time  creating  the  object 
by  means  of  which  that  desire  is  satisfied.  Take  for  instance  the 
case  of  hunger.  The  wish  for  food,  which  in  all  healthy  persons  is 
of  a  very  decided  nature,  has  certainly  been  given  to  us  by  Him 
who  in  the  beginning  made  us.  At  the  same  time  He  created  food. 
It  exists  in  abundance  in  the  world  He  made  and  over  which  He 
gave  to  mankind  the  lordship.  We  should  consider  Him  to  be  a 
cruel  tyrant  if  He  had  done  otherwise;  for  the  creation  of  the 
desire,  we  should  say,  supposes  also  the  creation  of  the  object  which 
is  to  satisfy  that  desire.  How  can  we  then  help  concluding  that,  as 
He  certainly  has  created  within  the  human  race  a  vehement  wish  for 
immortality,  He  intends  in  real  earnestness  to  eventually  bestow  it 
upon  us? 

Then,  again,  consider  the  effects  which  that  desire,  given  to  us,  it 
must  be  remembered,  by  God  Himself,  has  had  upon  the  generality 
of  the  human  race.  That  wish  has  been  "father  to  the  thought,"  of 
immortality.  So  much  must  be  said  if  we  leave  revelation  out  of  the 
question  and  argue,  as  we  are  now  doing,  solely  from  reason.  A 
desire  coming  from  the  Supreme  Being  Himself  has  raised  within  us 
sure  and  certain  hopes  of  a  future  existence.  Those  hopes,  all  will 
acknowledge,  are  among  the  most  precious  dispositions  of  the  mind 
and  the  heart.  They  sweeten  the  bitterness  of  the  present  life; 
they  brighten  the  darkness  caused  in  each  one  of  us  by  serious 
trouble ;  they  raise  us  up  when  we  are  down ;  they  are  the  only  sup- 
port and  stay  in  a  life  here  below  which,  in  the  thoughts  of  all  too 
many,  must  seem,  without  those  hopes,  not  worth  the  living.  God 
Himself  is  responsible  for  those  hopes.  He  created  the  cause  of 
them :  He  is  answerable  for  the  effects  of  them.  We  hope  because 
we  wish  so  ardently ;  but  it  is  He  who  has  made  us  wish  so  ardently. 
We  lay  our  hopes  at  His  feet.  He  made  them.  Can  we  believe  that 
He  has  made  them  only,  after  all,  to  dash  them  to  pieces  ? 

That  wish,  those  hopes,  that  firm  persuasion  of  immortality  has, 
moreover,  blossomed  into  such  beautiful  effects ;  and  then,  again,  we 
must  attribute  to  God  who  is  responsible  for  the  wish  to  live  again, 
which  is  the  cause  of  those  hopes,  of  this  firm  persuasion,  and  of 
these  very  effects  which  we  may  sum  up  in  the  one  word  Charity. 
Three-fourths  of  the  kindly  deeds  done  to  alleviate  the  misery  and 
the  misfortunes  of  others  owe  their  origin  to  the  firm  conviction  in 


306 


THE    CREED. 


the  breast  of  those  that  do  them  that  they  shall  live  again.  They  do 
good  to  their  neighbor  because  they  recognize  that  such  doing  good 
is  a  great  means  of  making  that  other  life  a  happy  one.  This  firm 
conviction,  then,  has  brightened  a  hundred  homes,  has  cured  such 
a  multitude  of  wounds,  has  harbored,  and  clothed,  and  fed  so  vast 
a  number  of  orphans,  has  softened  and  soothed  sicknesses  innum- 
erable, and  given  rest  to  untold  weariness :  it  has  paved  the  paths  of 
men  with  acts  of  brotherly  love,  and  made,  by  deeds  of  mercy,  a 
warmer  place  of  this  world  which  is  proverbially  cold  and  hard 
hearted.  God  made  this  firm  persuasion  in  us;  for,  when  an 
infinitely  wise  Being  is  responsible  for  the  cause,  He  must  be  held 
to  be  responsible  for  the  effect  And  the  cause  of  this  firm  persuasion 
is  that  wish  for  the  future  life  which  the  Supreme  Being  has  imparted 
to  each  one.  God  made  this  firm  persuasion  of  immortality  within 
us :  can  it  possibly  be  false,  then  ?  Will  you  make  Him  the  author 
of  a  falsehood  ?  Will  you  say  that  He  has  lured  us  on  by  false  hopes 
to  do  these  righteous  deeds  of  charity?  Will  you  say  that  He  does 
evil  that  good  may  come?  This,  indeed,  is  what  must  be  said,  if 
there  be  no  future  life ;  for  we  have  seen  that  He  is  responsible  for 
the  wish,  and  hopes,  and  firm  persuasion  of  immortality,  which  them- 
selves produce  these  beautiful  results  of  kindness,  and  we  are  asked 
to  believe  that  that  firm  persuasion,  made  in  us  by  Him,  is,  after  all, 
false  and  contrary  to  the  reality  of  things.  In  other  words,  God  has 
built  up  charity  on  the  foundation  of  falsehood!  Not  so  does  the 
really  reasonable  man  argue.  He  says  that  God  can  not  endow  us 
with  a  false  conviction,  and  that,  therefore,  as  the  conviction  of  the 
reality  of  the  future  life  comes  from  Him,  most  certain  it  must  be 
that  we  shall  live  again. 

Yet,  after  all,  it  is,  as  we  have  said,  a  question  not  so  much  of 
immortality  in  general  as  of  the  resurrection  of  the  body  in  par- 
ticular, with  which  we,  at'  the  present  moment,  are  engaged.  Never- 
theless, may  we  not  argue  from  the  one  to  the  other.  The  soul 
is  immortal  only  because  He  who  created  it  has  determined  that  im- 
mortal it  shall  be.  Its  nature  is  immortal — true,  but  its  nature  is 
immortal  only  because  the  Creator  has  decreed  that  so  its  nature 
should  be.  The  principle  of  life  in  a  great  many  of  the  members  of 
the  brute  creation  is  very  similar  to  our  own,  so  similar,  indeed,  that 
many  of  the  philosophers  of  the  twentieth  century  have  settled  down 
in  the  conviction  that  the  principle  of  life  in  man  and  brute  is  the 
same.  But  in  spite  of  the  similarity,  in  spite  of  the  likeness  in  nature, 


THE    RESURRECTION    OF    THE    BODY. 


3°7 


the  Creator  has  not  decreed  that  the  brute  as  well  as  man  is  to  be 
immortal.  The  soul  of  man,  the  highest  of  the  works  of  God  in 
nature  is  immortal,  then,  only  because  God  has  so  determined.  But 
surely  there  is  as  great  reason  that  the  body  should  be  gifted  finally 
with  immortality  as  there  is  for  the  souls  actually  now  being  in  the 
possession  of  the  same  gift.  The  two  have  fought  together  for  God 
and  virtue.  They  have  suffered  together.  They  have  together  borne 
"the  burden  and  the  heat,"  for  the  sake  of  the  kingdom  of  God.  Why 
should  the  one  receive  the  exceeding  great  reward  of  a  happy  immor- 
tality while  the  other  is  consigned  to  the  silence  of  an  eternal  grave  ? 
What  would  man  have  ever  done  for  the  praise  and  the  exaltation  of 
his  Creator  without  the  body  ?  What  is  it  that  has  borne  His  Name 
to  the  heathen?  Without  the  human  soul,  we  acknowledge  man 
could  have  accomplished  nothing;  but  what  could  he  have  done 
for  his  God  without  the  body?  It  is  the  mouth,  the  lips,  the  voice 
that  have  proclaimed  the  good  news  of  the  Redemption  to  the 
peoples  sitting  in  darkness.  The  lips,  the  hands,  the  feet  have  all 
aided,  soothed,  comforted,  blessed  the  sick  and  infirm.  Indeed, 
has  it  not  long  ago  passed  into  a  proverb  that  the  "blood  of  the  mar- 
tyrs is  the  seed  of  Christianity ;"  and  blood  without  a  body  can  not 
be.  For  God  the  body  has  been  put  to  indescribable  pains  and  tor- 
ments; for  God,  in  a  host  of  cases,  it  has  suffered  hunger,  thirst, 
weariness,  "the  heat  by  day,  the  frost  by  night ;"  and  can  we  believe 
that  God  will  leave  that  which  for  him  was  put  to  pain  and  subjected 
to  suffering,  without  a  reward,  nay,  even  without  recognition  ?  Very 
deep,  again,  is  the  assurance  and  the  conviction,  felt  by  all,  that,  al- 
though death  is  the  great  means  of  separation,  there  will  yet  be  a 
meeting  of  each  with  each  on  the  other  side  of  the  grave.  We  shall 
meet  again,  are  words  most  frequently  uttered,  even  by  the  irreli- 
gious and  the  unbelieving,  when  the  minutes  of  life  may  be  num- 
bered and  the  soul  is  shortly  about  to  take  its  departure.  But  if  it  is 
the  soul  only  with  which,  at  some  future  time,  we  are  to  be  brought 
again  into  contact,  the  idea  of  meeting  is  shorn  of  half  its  signifi- 
cance, and  deprived  of  most  of  the  consolation  which  it  undoubtedly 
affords  both  to  the  mourner  and  the  dying.  The  poet  was  voicing  one 
of  the  truest  instincts  we  have  when  he  exclaimed:  "Oh!  for  the 
touch  of  the  vanished  hand,  for  the  sound  of  the  voice  that  is  still." 
That  soul  should  meet  soul  is  not  sufficient  for  us:  the  eyes  desire 
to  look  into  eye,  hand  wishes  once  again  to  be  interlocked  in  hand, 
face  looks  forward,  and  that  with  eagerness,  to  the  day  when  the 


308 


THE    CREED. 


face  which  has  never  ceased  to  be  dear  will  gladden  the  heart  of 
him  or  of  her  to  whom  it  was,  on  earth,  among  the  most  precious 
things  they  looked  upon.  That  soul  and  soul  should  meet  again 
may  afford  some  kind  of  satisfaction  to  the  philosopher,  perhaps, 
but  mankind  is  not  made  up  of  philosophers — mankind  is  made  up 
of  very  natural,  very  simple,  people  who,  though  they  can  not  tell  you 
why  they  feel  it,  yet  certainly  do  feel  that,  when  the  forms  of  their 
dear  ones  have  been  taken  from  them  by  death,  they  would  give  all 
they  have  to  see  them  back  in  their  midst.  This  they  feel.  This  they 
want.  This  they  hope  for  most  when  they  speak  of  meeting  in 
the  next  world. 

To  the  Christian,  moreover,  Our  Lord  Himself  stands  both  as  the 
pledge  and  as  the  example  of  the  resurrection  of  the  dead.  He  rose 
from  the  grave,  Himself.  He  was,  says  St.  Paul,  the  first  fruits  of 
them  that  slept.  The  Apostles  would  have  experienced  very  little 
pleasure  had  they  thought  of  the  resurrection  of  the  Divine  Master 
as  being  a  continuance  on  earth  merely  of  His  spirit.  As  it  had  been 
the  departure  of  His  visible  presence,  the  sight  of  which  had  been  to 
them  for  three  years  so  sweet,  which  caused  them  such  lively  sorrow, 
so  it  was  the  real  reappearance  of  that  visible  presence  which,  on  the 
first  Easter  day,  gave  them  such  complete  satisfaction  and  joy.  Our 
Lord  was  most  anxious  to  make  them  quite  sure  that  He  was  risen 
in  the  flesh.  He  was  most  determined  to  let  them  see  that  He  was 
clothed  with  that  very  body  which  had  been  so  cruelly  put  to  death 
on  Mount  Calvary.  He  was  bent  on  making  them  quite  certain  that 
He  was  no  spirit  talking  with  them,  and  no  mere  soul  going  about 
once  more  in  their  midst.  "See  my  hands  and  my  feet,"  He  said; 
"Come  hither,  Thomas,  and  put  thy  hand  into  my  side,"  He  said  also 
to  the  doubting  disciple ;  and,  by  sitting  at  meal  with  them  and  mov- 
ing freely  in  and  out  for  forty  days  in  their  company,  He  made  it  per- 
fectly clear  that  His  resurrection  from  the  dead  meant  not  only  that 
of  the  soul,  but  that  of  the  body  as  well.  So  is  ours  to  be.  He  is  the 
first  fruits,  the  beginning  of  all  of  those  that  shall  rise  at  the  last  day. 
Like  Him  we  shall  be  the  same,  and,  as  it  was  with  His  resurrection 
so  will  it  be  with  ours ;  that  is,  there  will  be  sameness  with  difference. 
In  His  case  we  see  the  sameness  from  the  fact  that  the  disciples  knew 
the  Lord  and  recognized  Him,  worshiped  Him,  and  adored  Him, 
and  were  glad  when  they  saw  Him.  But  the  difference  arising 
from  the  conditions  of  the  risen  state  are  also  manifest  in  the  actions 
of  the  Apostles ;  for,  at  first  sight  the  differences  threw  them  off  their 


THE    RESURRECTION    OF    THE    BODY. 


3°9 


guard  and  made  them — as,  for  instance,  St.  Mary  Magdalen  and 
the  disciples  going  to  Emmaus — inclined  to  confuse  Him  with  some 
one  else. 

So  will  it  be  with  us  In  the  risen  state.  We  shall  be  the  very 
same ;  yet,  moving  in  a  condition  of  perfection  such  as  we  can  not 
hope  for  here,  there  will  be  also  a  change,  although  a  change  for 
that  which  is  "far  better." 


3,0  THE    CREED, 


XXXVI.    IS  THERE  A  HEREAFTER? 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REV.  MGR.  CANON  JOHN  S.  VAUGHAN. 
"I  believe  in  life  everlasting.    Amen." — The  Creed. 

SYNOPSIS. — The  importance  of  the  question  of  immortality.     The  proofs 
of  the  doctrine  cumulative  in  character. 

I.  God  has  declared  the  existence  of  a  future  life. 

II.  Reason  demands  it,  (a)  that  the  just  may  be  rewarded;  (&)  the 
unjust  punished. 

III.  Intercourse  with  the  unseen  world  proclaims  the  truth  of  the 
doctrine.    Examples  from  the  Scripture  and  from  the  lives  of  the  saints. 

IV.  The   universal   belief   of   mankind — (a)    Christian;    (b)    Jew; 
(c)  Pagan. 

V.  The  simplicity  and  immateriality  of  the  soul  a  metaphysical  proof. 
Conclusion.— Condition  in  the  future  depends  upon  ourselves;  there- 
fore prepare  for  it. 

Of  all  grave  questions  that  can  occupy  the  human  mind  there  is 
none  so  important  in  itself,  or  so  far  reaching  in  its  consequences  as 
the  question  of  a  hereafter.  Am  I  mortal  or  immortal?  For  me 
that  is  the  question  of  questions — the  one  point  to  be  settled  before 
any  other  can  be  discussed.  Am  I  like  the  flower,  that  blooms,  then 
falls  and  fades  forever  ?  Or  am  I  like  an  impregnable  rock  set  in  the 
midst  of  an  ebbing  sea,  that  stands  itself  unmoved,  while  all  else  is 
passing  by?  Does  death,  that  destroys  my  fleshy  envelope,  destroy 
me?  Does  death's  sharp  dart  that  kills  the  body,  pierce  also  the 
soul?  I  look  into  the  future.  I  ponder  on  the  eternal  years.  And 
as  I  am  borne  along  on  the  wings  of  thought  into  periods  too  distant 
to  be  realized,  too  vast  to  be  measured,  I  ask  myself ;  shall  I  then  be 
living?  Thinking?  Conscious  still ?  Shall  I  remain,  when  earth,  and 
all  earth  holds,  has  been  swept  away?  Shall  I  live  on  through  fall 
of  stars,  and  crash  of  worlds,  and  the  general  destruction  that  awaits 
all  material  things;  or  is  death  an  extinguisher,  that  puts  out  the 
flame  of  consciousness  forever  ?  If  this  world  were  the  only  theater 
of  human  life,  and  if  nothing  were  to  be  looked  for  beyond  it,  the 
whole  plan  and  basis  of  conduct  would  have  to  be  reconstructed,  and 
not  only  reconstructed,  but  reconstructed  on  totally  different  lines. 
Yes.  Blot  out  all  hope  of  a  future,  and  the  present  loses  all  signi- 
ficance. Life  assumes  a  different  aspect,  and  its  richest  and  brightest 


IS    THERE   A    HEREAFTER?  311 

colors  fade  from  the  landscape.  Whether  man  be  born  to  spend  an 
eternity  with  God,  or  only  to  struggle  for  a  few  years,  and  then 
cease  to  be,  are  questions,  the  answers  to  which  must  determine  the 
whole  current  of  events. 

Fortunately  there  is  no  room  for  doubt.  In  spite  of  the  musings 
of  certain  modern  materialists  it  is  certain  that  man's  soul  shall  never 
die.  In  fact,  that  man  is  made  to  survive  the  dissolution  of  his  body 
is  not  only  the  most  certain  teaching  of  revelation,  but  it  is  so  bound 
up  and  interwoven  with  thought  and  action  and  motive  and  conduct, 
that  we  can  not  remove  the  doctrine  even  in  thought,  without  seeing 
the  whole  social  fabric  totter  and  fall  to  pieces,  like  a  pack  of  cards. 

Indeed,  the  strength  of  the  Christian  position,  as  regards  an 
existence  beyond  the  tomb,  depends  not  so  much  on  any  one  special 
proof,  taken  singly,  however  certain  and  sufficient  it  may  be,  as 
upon  the  accumulation  of  numberless  proofs,  all  supporting  and  con- 
firming one  another,  and  creating  a  certainty,  which  is  irresistible  to 
the  mind  that  calmly  contemplates  them.  The  hawser  that  holds 
the  gigantic  liner  safely  to  the  shore  is  composed  of  hundreds  of 
minute  threads  of  flax  or  hemp.  No  one  of  these,  if  taken  singly, 
could  hold  so  much  as  one  of  her  loose  planks  or  spars,  but  their 
united  strength  will  arrest  the  entire  ship.  So  it  is  with  regard  to  the 
conjoint  proofs  establishing  belief  in  a  future  life.  Men  may  call  in 
question  this  or  that  particular  argument,  or  deem  it  inconclusive; 
but  when  all  the  proofs  are  focussed  and  united,  they  leave  no  doubt 
upon  the  inquiring  mind. 

We  believe  in  God.  All  nature  proclaims  His  existence.  It  is  only 
the  fool  who  says  "there  is  no  God,"  and  even  he  says  so,  only  "in 
his  heart,"  and  not  in  his  mind.  It  is  the  verdict  of  his  rebellious  will, 
which  would  be  free  from  all  restraint,  not  his  sober  reason.  But 
if  God  exists,  then  a  future  life  must  also  exist.  Why?  Firstly,  be- 
cause God  has  clearly  declared  this  truth.  "The  just  shall  go  into 
everlasting  glory,  and  the  wicked  into  everlasting  punishment."  He 
clearly  and  repeatedly  refers  to  another  life,  when  this  life  is  over. 
We  are  to  "sit  at  His  table"  to  "enter  into  His  joy,"  to  be  "satiated 
with  the  abundance  of  His  house,"  and  to  experience  a  condition  of 
happiness,  such  as  "eye  hath  not  seen  nor  ear  heard,  nor  mind 
conceived."  In  these  and  in  many  other  passages  God  declares, 
directly  or  by  implication,  that  there  is  to  be  a  life  beyond  the  tomb, 
of  which  our  present  life  is  but  the  preamble  and  the  preparation. 

Nor  is  this  all.    Our  sense  of  justice  and  equity  demands  it.    The 


3I2 


THE    CREED. 


world  we  live  in  presents  a  strange  picture  to  all  who  contemplate  it. 
Its  seething  populations  are  composed  of  all  sorts  and  conditions  of 
men;  differing  as  widely  from  one  another  in  character  and  dispo- 
sition as  the  fishes  of  the  sea  differ  from  one  another,  in  size  and 
form.  The  good  and  the  wicked;  the  just  and  the  unjust;  the  pure 
and  the  impure,  mingle  together  in  an  almost  inextinguishable  mass ; 
and,  while  evil  is  often  exalted  and  crowned  with  honor ;  goodness  is 
as  often  turned  out  of  doors  into  the  cold,  and  trodden  under  foot. 

However  imperfect  and  limited  may  be  our  acquaintance  with  the 
world,  we  know  enough  to  make  us  keenly  conscious  that  even- 
handed  justice  does  not  preside  over  the  destinies  of  men,  and  that 
few  receive  their  due,  whether  it  be  of  reward  or  of  punishment. 
Our  whole  sense  of  equity  and  fairness  revolts  at  the  scenes  that 
both  past  history  and  present  experience  unfold  before  us.  We 
contemplate  brute  strength  tyrannizing  over  weakness,  fraud  and 
cunning  triumphing  over  honesty  and  truth ;  and  lust  and  greed  and 
ambition  occupying  the  seats  of  honor  in  the  world.  The  early 
Christian  martyrs  were  torn  and  rent  by  the  fierce  beasts  in  the  public 
amphitheaters  to  afford  a  spectacle  to  dissolute  and  heartless  pagans ; 
noble  confessors  of  Christ  were  racked  and  tortured  and  done  to 
death,  because  they  loved  honor  and  truth  better  than  life;  mis- 
sioners  and  apostolic  men,  who  have  left  home  and  fatherland  out  of 
a  pure  love  for  souls,  and  an  ardent  desire  to  extend  the  empire  of 
truth,  have  received  insult  for  their  recompense,  and  death  for  their 
reward!  Indeed,  innocence  and  virtue  are  so  sure  of  provoking 
enmity  and  opposition,  that  it  has  become  a  proverb  among  men, 
as  well  as  an  inspired  assurance  of  Holy  Scripture,  that  all  "those 
who  will  five  godly,  suffer  persecution." 

But  is  evil  to  triumph  always  ?  Are  the  holy  and  the  spotless  to  be 
forever  trodden  under  foot?  Are  the  swords  and  bayonets  of  un- 
christian governments  to  be  forevei*  bared,  to  drive  out  defenceless 
religious  and  God-fearing  priests?  Will  the  tide  of  iniquity  never 
turn?  Is  there  no  justice  in  heaven,  no  care  or  solicitude  in  the 
heart  of  God,  for  His  own  ?  Is  there  no  glorious  resurrection  await- 
ing the  myriads  who  are  scourged  and  crucified  by  an  impious  world  ? 
Perish  the  thought!  As  sure  as  there  is  a  God  in  heaven,  so  sure 
is  it  that  justice  wfll  be  done ;  the  wicked  punished,  the  just  rewarded. 
This  hope,  yea,  rather  let  me  say  this  conviction,  can  not  be  realized 
here,  then  it  must  be  hereafter;  if  not  in  time,  in  eternity.  Our 
conscience  tells  us  as  clearly  as  the  words  of  Holy  Writ,  that  "God 


IS    THERE   A    HEREAFTER?  313 

will  judge  every  man  according  to  his  works,"  and  that  He  will  hold 
the  balance  in  His  hands,  and  apportion  to  each  individual  his 
appropriate  reward  or  punishment.  It  is  this  that  we  calmly  await 
and  confidently  expect,  knowing  that  though  the  world  may  tyrannize 
and  run  riot,  yet  "the  truth  of  the  Lord  endureth  forever." 

Undoubtedly  justice  demands  a  future  state,  in  which  the  present 
inequalities  shall  be  adjusted,  and  in  which  evil  doers  shaji  be  duly 
punished.  No  one  believing  in  an  infinitely  powerful  and  in  an  in- 
finitely wise  God,  can  suppose  that  He  will  allow  the  holy  and  the 
loyal  to  remain  forever  unavenged,  or  the  violators  of  every  law  and 
the  perpetrators  of  every  crime  and  infamy  to  go  altogether  unpun- 
ished. If  we  exercise  patience  now,  if  we  witness  the  triumph 
of  evil  and  the  trials  of  the  just,  with  some  equanimity  and  without 
losing  our  peace  of  mind,  it  is  simply  because  we  look  forward  with 
unswerving  trust  to  a  day  when  each  will  stand  before  an  impartial 
and  irresistible  Judge,  who  will  suffer  no  single  act  of  evil  to  go 
unpunished,  just  as  He  will  allow  no  single  deed  of  virtue  to  remain 
unrewarded. 

This  conviction,  which  is  implanted  within  the  uttermost  recesses 
of  the  soul,  points  clearly  to  a  life  beyond  the  tomb,  and  forms  one 
of  the  strands  of  that  irresistible  cord  which  bonds  this  truth  to  our 
minds. 

But  there  are  other  phenomena  which  can  be  explained  and  ac- 
counted for  only  on  the  theory  that  another  life  follows  on  the 
heels  of  this.  I  refer  especially  to  the  intercourse  which  actually 
subsists  between  this  world  and  the  next.  No  one  who  has  seriously 
examined  the  question  will  have  the  hardihood  to  deny  reality  to 
every  vision  and  apparition  that  has  ever  been  recorded;  yet,  even 
though  but  one  were  true,  that  one  would  suffice  to  refute  the  idea 
that  at  death  all  consciousness  ceases. 

Search  the  most  sacred  and  best  authenticated  records,  and  we  shall 
meet  innumerable  instances  of  the  dead  appearing  to  the  living.  The 
Scriptures  themselves  are  full  of  them;  take,  for  instance,  the  ac- 
count given  by  the  Evangelist  St.  Matthew  (chap,  xvii),  of  the 
transfiguration.  Not  only  did  Our  Lord  appear,  raised  in  the  air, 
and  wholly  transformed,  so  that  His  face  shone  like  the  sun,  and  His 
garments  became  white  as  snow ;  but  there  were  seen  "talking  with 
him  Moses  and  Elias,"  the  two  great'  patriarchs,  who  during  their 
earthly  career  had  worked  such  wonders  among  the  chosen  people 
of  God. 


3I4  THE   CREED. 

Both  Moses  and  Elias  had  lived  their  brief  life  on  earth ;  but  it  wart 
many  centuries  before  the  birth  of  Christ.  During  all  these  age 
their  bones  had  lain  buried,  and  generations  had  come  and  gone,  white 
little  more  than  the  bare  memory  of  their  names  survived  them.  Yet 
now  they  appear  again.  Now  they  revisit,  for  a  brief  moment,  the 
scenes  of  their  former  life,  and  are  clearly  seen  and  recognized 
holding  intercourse  with  our  blessed  Lord.  Here  there  is  striking 
and  unmistakable  evidence  that  the  dead  still  live,  and  that  those  who 
have  passed  beyond  human  observation,  to  the  land  of  spirits,  are 
still  existing  full  of  health  and  strength. 

Think  of  the  centuries  that  had  rolled  by,  between  the  period 
when  Pharao's  daughter  discovered  the  infant  Moses  in  a  cradle 
among  the  rushes,  and  the  date  at  which  the  incarnate  Son  of  God 
was  born  in  the  stable  of  Bethlehem.  Yet  during  all  these  centuries 
the  soul  of  the  great  leader  of  Israel  was  evidently  fully  conscious  and 
palpitating  with  life. 

But  to  such  instances  as  these  may  be  added  countless  others, 
recorded  in  the  lives  of  the  saints.  Among  the  many  thousands  of 
those  whose  lives  have  been  written,  and  whom  the  Church  holds  up 
to  our  veneration,  there  are  few  who  have  not  had  intercourse  with 
the  invisible  world  of  departed  souls.  They  have  seen  the  forms  and 
heard  the  voices  of  those  who,  years  before,  had  passed  away.  Not 
only  the  Blessed  Virgin,  but  St.  Joseph,  and  St.  Peter,  and  multitudes 
of  others  have  appeared  to  men  on  earth  and  communicated  with 
them  in  familiar  language.  Those  who  have  been  favored  with  such 
supernatural  visions  were  persons  of  exceptional  virtue  and  ex- 
ceptional honesty.  No  one  will  dare  to  say  that  they  were  all  either 
deceivers  or  deceived.  Their  united  testimony,  extending  to  all 
times  and  to  almost  all  countries,  can  hardly  be  set  aside  or  denied  by 
even  the  most  sceptical.  These  occurrences  have  been  too  numerous, 
too  circumstantial,  too  universal,  and  too  remarkable  in  their  effects, 
to  be  ascribed  in  every  case  to  hallucination,  fraud,  or  deceit.  Yet, 
if  it  be  granted  that  but  one  such  apparition  be  genuine,  it  must  be 
admitted  that  a  life  exists  beyond  the  tomb,  and  that  death  that  de- 
stroys the  body  has  no  power  over  the  soul. 

Another  argument  is  founded  upon  the  universal  belief  of  all 
mankind.  Not  only  the  most  highly  civilized,  but  also  the  most  illit- 
erate and  barbarous  have  clung  to  this  belief.  Among  uncivilized 
tribes  and  savages  the  doctrine  is  often  found  disfigured  by  gross 
superstitions  and  false  accretions,  but  it  is  clearly  recognizable,  They 


IS    THERE   A    HEREAFTER? 


3'5 


realize  that  the  spirits  of  their  ancestors  are  still  abroad.  They  bury 
food  and  weapons  with  the  corpses  of  their  deceased  relatives,  that 
they  may  be  nourished  and  armed  on  their  passage  to  the  nether 
world.  They  even  invoke  the  spirits  of  the  departed,  and  seek  to 
appease  their  anger  or  to  secure  their  friendship  by  gifts;  they 
attempt  to  call  them  up,  and  profess,  in  many  cases,  to  hold  com- 
munication with  them.  In  these  and  in  many  other  ways  they  bear 
witness  to  the  universality  of  the  belief  in  a  future  world,  to  which 
the  dead  are  transported.  They  have  disfigured  and  marred  this 
belief  by  surrounding  it  with  innumerable  absurdities  and  incon- 
gruous fables,  but  such  accretions  in  no  way  interfere  with  the  fact 
that  they,  like  all  other  men,  whether  cultured  or  uncultured,  whether 
savage  or  civilized,  agree  in  the  general  statement  that  man  does  not 
wholly  perish,  and  that  the  dread  destroyer  of  the  material  organs 
has  no  power  over  the  soul  that  uses  them.  Now  what  all  men  hold 
as  certain,  must  repose  upon  some  very  solid  foundation.  The  ver- 
dict of  the  entire  race  is  undoubtedly  true.  Why  ?  Because  its  very 
universality  shows  that  it  is  ingrained  in  our  very  nature.  And 
how  did  it  establish  itself  there,  but  by  the  impress  of  Him,  who 
created  it,  and  made  it  what  it  is.  As  we  all  possess  a  consciousness 
of  right  and  wrong,  so  we  all  possess  a  consciousness  of  a  future, 
when  the  dictates  of  this  very  conscience  will  be  vindicated.  To  what 
purpose  indeed  would  this  inward  monitor  be  given  to  us,  if  obedi- 
ence and  disobedience  to  its  dictates  resulted  in  the  same  conse- 
quences. No;  our  conscience  not  only  declares  one  act  to  be  just 
and  another  to  be  unjust,  but  it  warns  us  of  the  future  consequences 
of  any  violation  of  its  teaching,  and  points  to  a  future  retribution.  Its 
very  existence  implies  a  future  state  in  which  the  supreme  Legislator 
will  "render  to  every  man  according  to  his  works." 

Further,  it  may  be  observed,  that  the  answers  to  prayers  addressed 
to  the  saints,  are  wholly  inexplicable,  and  indeed  inconceivable,  except 
on  the  supposition  that  they  are  still  rejoicing  somewhere  in  the 
presence  of  God.  We  are  taught,  not  only  to  honor  the  glorious  ser- 
vants of  God,  but  to  seek  their  help  and  protection.  We  address  our 
petitions  to  them,  and  innumerable  are  the  favors  that  we  receive 
from  their  hands  in  return.  There  is  scarcely  any  devout  Catholic, 
but  has  been  made  sensible,  at  one  or  another  period  of  his  life,  of 
the  power  of  their  friendship ;  while  the  lives  of  the  saints  are  full  of 
the  most  remarkable  instances  of  the  succor  they  have  received  from 
such  heavenly  visitors,  in  times  of  peril  and  of  trial.  No  one 


3l6  THE    CREED. 

can  read  the  accounts  of  St.  Ignatius  the  Bishop,  St.  Polycarp,  St. 
Perpetua,  St.  Cyprian,  to  take  a  few  instances,  without  realizing  that 
the  departed  have  not  ceased  to  be,  but  have  only  changed  their  en- 
vironment 

This  intercourse  between  the  inhabitants  of  the  present  world  and 
those  of  the  next,  so  constantly  alluded  to  in  the  biographies  of  holy 
men  and  women,  affords  additional  testimony  in  support  of  our 
contention,  while  even  the  experiences  of  the  so-called  spiritualists, 
and  others,  who,  in  spite  of  ecclesiastical  prohibitions  and  repeated 
denunciations,  carry  on  unlawful  communication  with  deceased 
friends — serves,  in  spite  of  its  unlawfulness — to  add  at  least  some 
further  weight  to  this  dogma  of  the  Church. 

Another  set  of  arguments  come  to  us  from  the  study  of  meta- 
physics. It  has  been  clearly  demonstrated  by  psychologists  that  the 
soul  is  a  simple  or  indivisible  substance;  spiritual  in  its  nature; 
and  not  intrinsically  dependent  on  the  body  for  its  existence,  or  even 
for  its  action.  Now,  such  a  substance  is  incapable  of  corruption, 
either  directly  or  indirectly.  It  is  obviously  incapable  of  corruption 
directly,  since  it  is  not  made  up  of  distinct  parts,  and  can  not  there- 
fore be  resolved  into  anything  else,  as,  for  instance,  water  may  be 
resolved  into  two  gases.  But  it  is  likewise  incapable  of  corruption 
or  distribution  even  indirectly,  for  it  does  not  intrinsically  depend  on 
the  body  for  its  being,  as  the  whiteness  of  the  snow-flakes  depends 
upon  the  snow,  and  must  vanish  as  soon  as  the  particle  in  which  it 
adheres  is  melted  by  the  warmth.  Hence  the  human  soul  can  not 
come  to  an  end  in  either  of  these  ways. 

From  this  it  is  apparent  that  its  immortality  is  one  of  the  conse- 
quences of  its  immateriality.  Were  the  human  intellect  but  a  simple 
product  of  certain  nervous  processes,  or  a  mere  function  of  the  gray 
matter  of  the  brain  (as  has  foolishly  been  alleged),  then,  of  course, 
the  dissolution  of  the  organism  would  necessarily  mean  the  total 
annihilation  of  the  soul.  But  since  sound  philosophy  proves  this 
not  to  be  the  case,  the  soul  must  live  on,  after  the  organism  has 
perished. 

These  are,  however,  considerations  to  which  it  is  impossible  to  do 
justice,  except  in  a  lecture-room,  and  to  students  already  versed  in 
the  subtleties  of  philosophy,  and  a  preacher  would  justly  be  blamed 
for  pedantry,  who  should  do  more  than  just  point  out  in  passing  the 
existence  of  such  proofs.  To  any  among  you,  dear  brethren,  who 
may  be  interested  in  the  metaphysical  aspect  of  the  momentous 


IS    THERE   A    HEREAFTER?  317 

question,  the  ordinary  recognized  treatises  lie  ready  and  open,  and 
may  easily  be  consulted. 

Taking,  then,  man's  future  life  as  sufficiently  established,  we  will 
devote  the  short  time  remaining  to  us,  to  the  consideration  of  a 
more  practical  and  pressing  question.  We  shall  inquire  whether  we 
are  making  as  serious  a  preparation  for  that  eternal  future  as  it 
deserves. 

The  future  that  awaits  us  is  eternal.  In  that  one  respect',  at  least, 
it  is  the  same  for  all.  But  when  we  pass  in  review  the  precise  state 
and  condition  of  the  individual  soul,  that  has  "entered  into  the  house 
of  its  eternity,"  and  contemplate  its  occupations,  its  aspirations,  its 
feelings  and  emotions,  the  utmost  discrimination  must  be  exercised. 
"The  just,"  says  the  Infinite  Judge,  "shall  go  into  everlasting  glory, 
and  the  wicked  into  everlasting  punishment."  But  among  both  the 
just  and  the  unjust,  there  exist  innumerable  degrees  of  holiness  or 
of  infamy.  As  there  are  different  positions  in  God's  kingdom — "in 
my  Father's  house  there  are  many  mansions,"  so  there  are  also  dif- 
ferent positions  in  the  region  of  the  damned.  As  even  those  who 
are  saved,  will  nevertheless  differ  from  one  another,  even  "as  star 
differeth  from  star  in  glory,"  so,  in  like  manner,  will  the  lost  differ 
from  one  another  in  the  measure  of  their  shame  and  in  the  intensity 
of  their  agony. 

As  no  two  human  beings  possess  exactly  the  same  form  and  cast 
of  features,  so  there  are  probably  no  two  in  heaven  or  in  hell,  whose 
lives  on  earth  have  quite  corresponded,  or  who  have  merited  pre- 
cisely the  same  fate.  In  every  sin,  as  well  as  in  every  act  of  virtue, 
there  are  circumstances  and  surroundings  wholly  personal  and  pecu- 
liar, which  will  differentiate  every  act  of  vice  or  virtue,  from  every 
other. 

We  must  not  then  rest  satisfied,  dear  brethren,  to  save  our  souls, 
nor  flatter  ourselves  that  we  have  done  enough,  when  we  have  secured 
a  place  in  our  Father's  home.  We  should  rather  dwell  upon  the  fact 
that  time  is  given  that  we  may  turn  it  to  account,  and  that  we  must 
never  cease  to  advance  and  to  struggle  forward,  upward,  and  on- 
ward, with  persevering  energy  and  resolution,  so  long  as  life  last's. 

Did  we  but  realize  the  priceless  value  of  every  moment  of  time, 
we  should  be  far  more  careful  than  we  are  not  to  squander  the 
flying  minutes,  each  one  of  which  is  a  seed,  big  with  the  promise  of 
eternal  fruit. 


THE   CREED. 


XXXVII.    HEAVEN. 

BY   THE   REV.    BERTRAND   L.    CONWAY,    C.S.P. 


"Dearly  beloved,  we  are  now  the  sons  of  God;  and  it  hath  not  yet 
appeared  what  we  shall  be.  We  know  that  when  he  shall  appear,  we  shall 
be  like  to  him,  because  we  shall  see  him  as  he  is." — I  John  iii,  2. 

SYNOPSIS.— Introduction.— The  Scriptures  speak  of  heaven  to  comfort  us 
in  our  sorrows,  to  remind  us  of  our  brief  earthly  pilgrimage  and  to 
incite  us  to  persevere.  Impossible  to  describe  its  joys.  Impossible  to 
St.  Paul  and  St.  John.  The  imagery  of  the  Apocalypse  not  a  real  de- 
scription. Useless  for  us  to  pry  into  the  details  of  its  joy. 

I.  The   Beatific    Vision.      Reason    can   prove   immortality   and    the 
fact  of  a  future  reward.    Revelation  alone  can  tell  us  of  the  supernatural 
fact  of  the  Beatific  Vision.    We  see  God  by  the  light  of  glory.     We  see 
not  only  the  glorified  humanity  of  Christ,  but  the  divine  essence.     We 
see  all  things  in  God,  and  from  His  divine  viewpoint.     In  this  life  we 
see   traces  of  God's  goodness,   truth  and   beauty.     A   foretaste  of  the 
perfect  vision  of  God — not  a  mere  contemplation,  but  a  perfect  satisfac- 
tion of  every  faculty  of  man's  being. 

II.  Perfect  and  eternal  happiness.     Happiness  in   this  life  always 
imperfect  and  fleeting.    Sin  banished  in  heaven,  and  with  it  all  the  evils 
that  follow  in  its  train — labor,  sorrow,  sickness  and  death.     A  place  of 
perfect  rest.     The  Scriptures  speak  of  degrees  of  merit,  according  to 
our  works.     There  is  no  possibility  of  ennui,  because    (/)    The  object 
of  our  longing  is  infinite;  and  (2)  God  sustains  us  that  we,  made  like 
to  Him,  never  know  fatigue. 

Peroration— The  true  lover   (/)    thinks  constantly  of  the  beloved; 

(2)  longs  ardently  for  her  presence,  and  (3)  is  willing  to  do  all  things 

for  her.     Love  should  therefore  be  the  object  of  all  our  striving,  and 
heaven  the  goal  in  view. 

The  Word  of  God,  in  both  the  Old  Testament  and  the  New, 
speaks  unceasingly  of  the  perfect  and  lasting  happiness  which  God 
has  prepared  for  His  faithful  servants.  The  joys  of  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  are  insisted  upon  by  prophet,  apostle,  and  the  Saviour 
Himself,  to  comfort  us  in  our  struggles  and  sorrows,  to  remind  us 
of  the  brief  duration  of  our  earthly  pilgrimage,  to  incite  us  to 
persevere  faithfully  until  the  end,  that  we  might  win  our  reward 
exceedingly  great.  "I  reckon  that  the  sufferings  of  this  time  are 
not  worthy  to  be  reckoned  with  the  glory  to  come"  (Rom.  viii,  18). 
"We  have  not  here  a  lasting  city,  but  we  seek  one  that  is  to  come" 
(Heb.  xiii,  14).  "Be  thou  faithful  unto  death,  and  I  will  give  thee 


HEAVEN.  319 

the  crown  of  life"  (Apoc.  ii,  10).  "Your  reward  is  very  great  in 
heaven"  (Matt,  v,  i).  "They  shall  be  inebriated  with  the  plenty 
of  thy  house;  and  thou  shalt  make  them  drink  of  the  torrent  of 
thy  pleasure"  (Ps.  xxv,  10). 

It  is  impossible  for  any  mortal  to  describe  adequately  the  happi- 
ness of  heaven.  The  apostles  on  Thabor  who  saw  the  Saviour 
transfigured  with  the  glory  of  His  Father's  kingdom  "fell  upon 
their  faces  and  were  very  much  afraid"  (Matt,  xvii,  6).  St.  Paul, 
the  greatest  genius  the  religious  world  ever  knew,  although  vouch- 
safed a  vision  of  paradise,  could  only  marvel  at  its  beauty,  and  be 
silent  (II  Cor.  xii,  4).  He  knew  that  its  happiness  far  surpassed 
the  dreams  of  the  brightest  intelligence,  or  the  hopes  of  the  most 
loving  heart.  "Eye  hath  not  seen,  nor  ear  heard,  neither  hath  it 
entered  into  the  heart  of  man,  what  things  God  had  prepared  for 
them  that  love  Him"  (I  Cor.  ii,  9).  St.  John  the  Beloved  pictures 
heaven  with  "its  gates  of  pearl,  its  streets  of  pure  gold,  its  founda- 
tions of  all  precious  stones,  its  light  of  the  glory  of  God"  (Apoc. 
xxi,  19-23),  and  yet  his  imagery  in  no  way  pretends  to  give  a  real 
account  of  the  beauty  of  God's  house. 

When  the  greatest  of  God's  saints  tell  us  clearly  that  God  has 
not  chosen  to  reveal  to  us  the  details  of  our  future  life  and  work  in 
eternity,  it  is  idle  for  us  to  pry  into  the  secrets  of  God.  We  can 
not  know  any  more  than  God  is  pleased  to  unfold. 

We  should  be  perfectly  content  when  the  apostle  tells  us :  "It  doth 
not  yet  appear  what  we  shall  be."  How  we  shall  know  God  and,  love 
Him  for  all  eternity,  how  we  will  carry  on  converse  with  the 
angels  and  the  saints,  how  we  will  feel  toward  our  friends  or  rela- 
tives who  have  not  won  their  crown,  how  we  shall  be  perfectly  and 
eternally  happy — these  are  questions  for  the  future.  We  are  like  men 
regarding  the  reverse  side  of  a  beautiful  tapestry,  and  seeing  nothing 
but  an  unmeaning  medley  of  numberless  stitches  and  knots.  But 
we  know  that  if  we  are  faithful  to  the  end,  we  will  one  day  behold 
the  beautiful  design,  of  God's  own  framing,  on  the  other  side  of  the 
fabric. 

But  as  in  every  other  mystery  of  Christianity,  the  hereafter  with 
its  obscurity  and  darkness  is  also  a  revelation  of  truth  and  light. 
As  St.  John  tells  us:  In  heaven  "we  shall  see  God  face  to  face, 
and  be  like  to  him." 

The  essential  joy  of  the  blessed  in  heaven  consists  in  seeing  God 
face  to  face  and  loving  Him  perfectly  through  all  eternity — in  en- 


320  THE  CREED. 

joying  with  the  purest  and  most  perfect  happiness  the  Beatific 
Vision.  "Blessed  are  the  clean  of  heart,  for  they  shall  see  God" 
(Matt,  v,  8).  "We  see  now  through  a  glass  in  a  dark  manner, 
but  then  face  to  face"  (I  Cor.  xiii,  12). 

Human  reason  of  itself  can  prove  the  sanction  of  reward  and 
punishment  in  the  after  life.  It  can  demonstrate  that  the  soul  does 
not  end  with  the  body,  but  lives  an  immortal  life  of  blessing  or 
of  curse,  according  as  it  has  kept  or  broken  the  law  of  God.  But 
the  revealed  joy  of  the  Beatific  Vision  is  far  above  the  happiness 
due  our  human  nature.  It  is  a  purely  supernatural  gift  of  God. 
"Eternal  life,"  says  the  apostle,  "is  a  grace  of  God"  (Rom.  vi,  23). 
It  makes  us  "fellow  citizens  with  the  saints,  domestics  of  God, 
joint  heirs  with  Christ,  sharers  in  the  glory  of  his  throne,  his  eternal 
friends"  (Eph.  ii,  19;  Rom.  viii,  17 ;  Apoc.  Hi,  21 ;  John  xiv,  2).  No 
truth  is  plainer  in  the  Scriptures  than  the  invisibility  of  the  Un- 
created Deity.  We  have  no  right  by  our  mere  human  nature  to  see 
God  face  to  face.  "No  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time"  (Jo.  i,  18). 
"God  inhabiteth  light  inaccessible,  whom  no  man  hath  seen  nor  can 
see"  (I  Tim.  vi,  16).  When  Moses  of  old  desired  to  see  the  glory 
of  God,  Jehovah  told  him  that  to  see  God  face  to  face  was  not 
given  to  man  in  this  life.  "Thou  canst  not  see  my  face;  for  no 
man  shall  see  me  and  live"  (Ex.  xxxiii,  20;  Cf.  Deut.  iv,  12;  I 
Jo.  iv,  12). 

St.  John  tells  us  that  to  see  God  there  must  needs  be  some  mar- 
velous supernatural  change  in  us.  If  we  are  to  look  not  merely 
upon  Our  Lord's  glorified  humanity  but  to  view  the  Divine  Essence 
itself,  we  must  become  "partakers  of  the  Divine  Nature"  (II  Peter 
i,  4),  we  must  "be  like  to  him"  (I  Jo.  iii,  2). 

This  supernatural  quality  or  special  divine  operation  whereby 
our  minds  are  enlarged,  purified  and  strengthened  to  enjoy  the 
glory  of  the  divine  nature  instead  of  being  overwhelmed  by  its 
majesty,  is  called  by  the  Church  the  light  of  glory.  It  is  the  cul- 
minating grace  of  the  thousands  that  God  showers  upon  His  chil- 
dren from  the  time  He  first  gave  them  the  divine  help  to  believe 
and  to  hope.  It  is  the  eternal  grace  of  the  love  of  God  which  will 
endure  for  ever,  when  the  faith  that  acknowledged  it,  and  the  hope 
that  longed  for  it  shall  be  no  more. 

Even  in  this  life  we  can  see  everywhere  around  us  the  traces  of 
the  beauty,  the  goodness  and  the  truth  of  the  most  high  God.  How 
many  have  realized  his  beauty  when  they  saw  the  sun  rise  glorious 


HEAVEN.  321 

at  dawn  from  the  top  of  the  snow-capped  mountains,  or  descend 
in  ruddy  glow  tipping  the  surrounding  clouds  with  all  the  colors 
of  the  rainbow?  How  many  have  felt  His  goodness  when  in  their 
hour  of  contentment  they  have  thanked  Him  for  the  blessing  of  a 
true  wife,  a  grateful  child,  a  faithful  friend,  a  sorrowful  Con- 
fession, a  loving  Communion  ?  How  many  have  received  a  glimpse 
of  His  eternal  truth,  when  they  entered  the  haven  of  the  Church 
Catholic  after  the  storms  of  error  and  unbelief,  and  learned  to  love 
the  wisdom  of  God  in  a  St.  Paul,  a  St.  John,  a  Francis  de  Sales, 
or  a  Philip  Neri? 

And  yet  these  were  only  "glimpses  through  a  glass,"  as  the 
apostle  calls  them.  They  were  merely  the  glimmering  rays  of 
beauty,  goodness  and  truth  which  shone  from  on  high  through  the 
thick  mists  of  this  world's  error  and  sin. 

In  the  kingdom  of  heaven  we  shall  no  longer  see  Him  by  means 
of  His  word  and  works,  as  revealed  in  the  universe,  the  Bible,  the 
Church  and  the  saints,  but  we  shall  gaze  into  the  Divine  Essence 
itself,  and  see,  as  in  a  spotless  mirror,  created  things,  and  the 
eternal  truths.  We  will  begin  to  fathom — and  all  eternity  will 
not  suffice  for  the  task — the  impenetrable  depths  of  the  mysteries 
of  God — the  trinity,  the  incarnation,  the  redemption,  the  love,  the 
mercy,  the  justice,  the  power,  the  eternity  of  God.  We  shall  then 
learn  the  reason  of  suffering  and  labor,  we  shall  realize  the  mercy 
of  eternal  punishment,  we  shall  see  the  wisdom  of  the  marvelous 
distribution  of  God's  graces — in  a  word,  we  shall  be  perfectly 
happy  in  viewing  all  things  from  the  viewpoint  of  God. 

Some  non-Catholic  writers  have  ridiculed  what  they  call  the 
scholastic  concept  of  heaven.  Just  as  Mohammed,  they  say,  pictured 
a  sensual  paradise,  or  the  pagans  framed  gods  after  their  own 
image  and  likeness,  so  the  medieval  schoolmen,  addicted  wholly  to 
contemplation,  made  the  happiness  of  heaven  consist  solely  in  the 
joy  of  intellectual  contemplation. 

But  such  an  objection  at  once  proves  that  these  men  have  never 
taken  the  trouble  to  read  any  of  the  authors  they  despise  on  mere 
traditional  prejudice.  For  Catholic  theologians  of  the  Middle  Ages 
and  to-day  point  out  carefully  that  the  Beatific  Vision  implies 
not  merely  the  perfect  satisfaction  of  the  intellect  but  also  the 
perfect  satisfaction  of  the  will;  not  merely  the  perfection  of  the 
soul,  which  becomes  like  to  God,  but  also  of  the  body  which  becomes 
like  the  body  of  the  risen  Christ  (I  Cor.  xv),  not  merely  a  dry 


THE  CREED. 

thinking  about  God,  but  the  perfect  possession  of  God  for  all 
eternity  by  every  faculty  of  man. 

What  do  we  mean  by  seeing  a  friend  ?  We  go  to  see  him  because 
we  love  him,  and  enjoy  the  pleasure  of  his  company.  Should  that 
love  turn  to  hatred,  his  very  presence  becomes  distasteful  and  a 
positive  pain  to  us.  So  the  devout  soul  sees  God  because  it  loves 
God  perfectly,  and  finds  its  perfect  contentment  in  His  eternally 
blessed  presence.  For  the  same  reason  the  unrepentant  sinner, 
dying  in  the  voluntary  hatred  of  God,  finds  God's  presence  a  posi- 
tive pain,  and  shuns  it  forever  in  the  despair  of  hell. 

The  soul  possessed  of  the  Beatific  Vision  is  necessarily  blessed 
with  a  perfect  and  eternal  happiness. 

There  is  an  innate  longing  in  every  soul  for  happiness,  because 
God  has  created  it  for  Himself.  Too  often  man  seeks  it  where  it 
can  not  be  found.  In  seeking  to  build  his  palace  of  happiness,  he 
generally  lays  the  foundation  in  the  riches  of  the  world,  which 
seem  at  first  sight  able  to  procure  every  desire  of  the  human  heart. 
On  this  foundation  he  erects  every  kind  of  sensual  and  intellectual 
pleasure;  love,  friendship,  health,  the  pride  of  place,  the  glory  of 
this  world,  the  honor  and  respect  of  his  fellows.  Has  he  attained 
true  happiness?  By  no  means,  for  in  one  day  the  whirlwind  of 
misfortune  overturns  his  palace  of  pleasure  and  buries  him  in  its 
ruins. 

Has  he  acquired  a  fortune  of  millions?  He  is  robbed  of  it  in  one 
day's  wild  speculation,  or  his  health  is  so  shattered  that  his  life  is 
nothing  but  a  living  death.  Has  he  a  happy  and  peaceful  family? 
In  one  day,  the  devil  enters  that  household,  and  lo!  a  loving  wife 
becomes  untrue,  a  daughter  marries  a  worthless  scoundrel,  or  a 
son  becomes  a  drunkard.  Has  he  many  friends?  In  time  of  need 
they  desert  him  and  sell  his  friendship,  like  Judas,  for  thirty  pieces 
of  silver.  Is  he  honored  by  the  world  with  its  highest  places  of 
trust?  One  false  step,  and  those  that  yesterday  shouted  their 
hosannas,  will  be  the  first  to  clamor  for  his  undoing. 

Indeed  every  new  desire  of  the  heart  that  is  satisfied  is  merely 
the  beginning  of  another  that  craves  satisfaction.  We  are  like  the 
traveler  that  for  the  first  time  attempts  to  climb  the  summit  of  a 
very  high  mountain.  After  great  stress  of  labor  he  has  reached  a 
rugged  height  only  to  find  himself  encased  in  a  prison  of  great 
walls.  On  and  on  he  goes  to  what  he  deems  the  topmost  peak,  but 
on  reaching  it  he  finds  that  there  are  others  higher  still.  Down 


HEAVEN.  323 

again  he  climbs  to  ascend  once  more,  only  to  be  again  deceived. 
What  a  true  picture  of  the  lives  of  men. 

In  heaven  every  true  desire  shall  find  its  perfect  satisfaction,  and 
every  evil  shall  cease  to  exist  forever  more.  There  will  be  perfect 
rest  and  peace  for  body  and  soul.  The  poor  "shall  no  more  hunger 
and  thirst,  neither  shall  the  sun  fall  on  them,  nor  any  heat"  (Apoc. 
vii,  16).  The  sick  and  sorrowing  shall  be  strong  and  happy,  for 
"God  shall  wipe  away  all  tears  from  their  eyes;  and  death  shall  be 
no  more,  nor  mourning,  nor  crying,  nor  sorrow  shall  be  any  more" 
(Apoc.  xxi,  4).  The  curse  of  sin  and  the  dark  night  of  struggle 
and  temptation  shall  disappear,  for  "there  shall  be  no  curse  any 
more,  and  night  shall  be  no  more"  (Apoc.  xxii,  3-5).  The  devil's 
power  will  be  .utterly  broken,  the  flesh  will  no  longer  rebel  against 
the  spirit,  the  world  of  wicked  men  and  women  will  be  utterly 
forgotten. 

How  often  did  the  eyes  of  the  martyrs  dying  for  Christ  in  the 
midst  of  most  cruel  torments  pierce  behind  the  veil,  to  take  comfort 
in  the  peace  of  the  City  of  God!  How  often  have  the  noblest  of 
the  saints  been  wrapped  in  ecstasy  as  they  "beheld  the  glory  of 
the  Lord  with  open  face"  (II  Cor.  iii,  18).  How  often  a  weary 
pilgrim  in  this  valley  of  tears  has  struggled  on  despite  the  bitterest 
temptations  toward  the  rest  of  his  father's  house?  "One  drop  of 
this  happiness,"  a  great  saints  tells  us,  "if  it  fell  into  hell,  would  at 
once  convert  the  misery  of  the  damned  into  joy  and  delight." 
"Blessed  indeed  are  they  that  dwell  in  thy  house,  O  Lord.  They 
shall  praise  thee  forever  and  ever"  (Ps.  Ixxxiii,  5),  "they  shall  be 
inebriated  with  the  plenty  of  thy  house,  and  thou  shalt  make  them 
drink  of  the  torrent  of  thy  pleasure;  for  with  thee  is  the  fountain 
of  life,  and  in  thy  light  we  shall  see  light"  (Ps.  xxxv,  9,  10). 

It  is,  however,  the  teaching  of  the  Council  of  Florence  that 
although  all  the  blessed  shall  be  perfectly  happy,  still  everyone 
shall  be  rewarded  according  to  their  degree  of  merit.  Nothing  is 
more  clearly  taught  in  the  sacred  Scriptures.  Our  Saviour  tells  us 
that  "he  will  render  to  every  man  according  to  his  works"  (Matt. 
xvi,  27).  It  seems  natural  to  suppose  that  the  saint  who  practices 
the  heroic  self-denial  of  a  St.  Paul,  or  the  heroic  poverty  of  St. 
Francis  Assisi,  will  obtain  more  glory  before  the  throne  of  God, 
than  that  simple  good  housewife  who  saves  her  soul,  after  yielding 
many  and  many  a  time  to  worldliness.  "He  who  soweth  spar- 


THE  CREED. 

ingly  shall  also  reap  sparingly;  and  he  who  soweth  in  blessings 
shall  also  reap  blessings"  (II  Cor.  ix,  6). 

Protestants  as  a  rule  deny  this,  on  account  of  their  false  teaching 
on  merit,  and  the  efficacy  of  good  works.  They  also  appeal  to  the 
parable  of  the  householder  (Matt,  xx,  1-16).  But  Our  Saviour 
merely  wished  to  bring  out  the  fact  "that  the  reward  of  eternal 
life  corresponds  not  to  the  length  of  time  a  man  has  labored,  but 
to  the  work  he  has  accomplished"  (Maldonatus).  Our  Saviour  had 
in  mind  the  Jews,  who  proud  of  their  position  as  God's  chosen 
people  were  murmuring  now  that  he  was  putting  the  alien  Gentiles 
on  the  same  footing  as  themselves.  The  question  of  the  quality 
or  inequality  of  reward  in  an  after  life  is  not  even  hinted  at. 

Another  common  difficulty  of  to-day  is  the  doubt  that  seems  to 
arise  even  in  the  minds  of  some  Christians :  Will  not  the  joys  of 
heaven  be  fruitful  of  languor  and  ennui?  They  picture  the  blessed 
as  immersed  in  mere  dreamy  contemplation,  or  chanting  in  dull 
monotonous  round  the  praises  of  God. 

But  is  it  not  altogether  unreasonable  to  suppose  that  the  Infinite 
Intelligence,  Beauty  and  Love  could  fail  to  satisfy  the  aspirations 
and  longings  of  our  minds  and  hearts?  As  well  say  that  we  could 
exhaust  the  ocean  by  drinking  its  waters,  as  dream  of  exhausting 
the  treasures  of  eternal  happiness  that  God  has  prepared  for  us. 

It  is  perfectly  true  that  pleasure  produces  satiety  in  this  life, 
but  that  can  readily  be  accounted  for.  Sinful  pleasure  eventually 
causes  disgust  and  ennui,  for  our  hearts  were  made  for  something 
higher  and  nobler;  intellectual  pleasure  is  often  so  exacting  in  its 
demands  that  it  wearies  us  exceedingly,  just  as  the  body  becomes 
fatigued  from  too  much  physical  exercise.  • 

But  in  heaven  no  unhappiness  is  possible,  because  sin,  the  origin 
of  it,  is  absolutely  banished.  "There  shall  not  enter  into  it  any- 
thing defiled"  (Apoc.  xxi,  27).  No  weariness  or  ennui  is  possible, 
because  God  gives  us  the  sustaining  help  of  His  own  infinite  power 
and  love.  All  the  desires  of  mind  and  will  and  heart  will  be 
eternally  gratified.  Why,  then,  question,  simply  because  we  can 
not  form  an  adequate  concept  of  the  manner  in  which  God  will 
satisfy  them. 

Sursum  Corda  be  your  motto,  then,  beloved  brethren.  Lift  up 
your  hearts  to  the  glory  and  happiness  that  await  you  in  the  palace 
of  the  King.  The  true  lover  thinks  constantly  of  the  beloved.  It 
was  the  thought  of  the  plenty  in  his  father's  house  that  first 


HEAVEN.  325 

roused  the  prodigal  to  a  sense  of  his  degradation.  It  was  the  vision 
of  paradise  that  changed  Saul,  the  persecutor  of  the  Christians,  into 
Paul,  the  great  lover  of  Jesus  Christ. 

The  true  lover  longs  ardently  for  the  presence  of  the  beloved, 
"As  the  hart  panteth  after  the  fountains  of  water,  so  their  souls 
pant  after  God"  (Ps.  xli,  I,  2).  The  desire  "to  be  dissolved,  and 
to  be  with  God"  (Phil,  i,  23)  has  ever  burned  in  the  hearts  of 
patriarchs,  prophets  and  apostles.  They  knew  that  nothing  but 
God  could  give  true  rest  and  peace  to  their  souls;  that  their  long- 
ing for  truth,  goodness,  beauty  and  love  was  too  intense  to  be 
satisfied  by  aught  created,  that  this  life  was  but  an  imperfect, 
humdrum  existence,  unless  its  motive  was  divinized  by  the  glory  of 
the  life  to  come.  Death  to  God's  true  servants  is  merely  a  door 
into  their  Father's  house,  a  gate  into  the  King's  city.  Sickness, 
sorrow  and  labor  are  merely  the  passports  for  entrance. 

The  true  lover  is  willing  to  do  all  things  for  the  beloved.  The 
faithful  follower  of  Christ  finds  every  burden  easy,  because  love 
spurs  him  on.  He  knows  that  "the  kingdom  of  heaven  suffereth 
violence  and  the  violent  bear  it  away"  (Matt,  xi,  12).  He  knows 
that  the  one  who  hateth  his  life  in  the  world  keepeth  it  unto  life 
eternal  (Jo.  xii,  25).  He  knows  that  "through  many  tribulations 
we  must  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God"  (Acts  xiv,  22).  No  sacri- 
fice is  too  great,  no  sorrow  too  bitter,  no  labor  too  trying,  no  poverty 
too  burdensome,  no  temptation  too  vehement — all  are  gladly  ac- 
cepted as  crosses,  needed  to  win  the  crown  incorruptible  (I  Cor. 
ix,  25). 

With  love  as  the  motive,  and  the  kingdom  of  God  as  the  end 
of  your  striving,  let  the  world's  standards  alone.  Men  may  pity 
you  for  your  ill  health,  look  down  upon  you  for  your  poverty,  and' 
avoid  you  for  your  over  great  sorrow,  "esteeming  your  life  mad- 
ness, and  your  death  without  honor,"  but  God  "has  numbered  you 
among  his  children,  and  your  lot  will  be  eternal  happiness  among 
his  saints"  (Wisdom  v,  4,  5). 


THE  CREED. 


XXXVIII.    PURGATORY. 

BY  THE  REV.  JOHN  FREELAND. 

SYNOPSIS. — /.  Our  Lord's  earnestness  in  preaching  a  state  of  perfection. 
The  difficulty  of  the  means,  laid  down  by  Him,  for  attaining  that  state. 
The  fact  is  that  hardly  any  one  does  practice  those  means.  Christ  meant 
them  to  be  carried  out.  Heaven  can  not  be  entered  without  perfection. 
As  that  perfection  is  not  attained  here  it  follows  that  some  place  must 
exist,  on  the  other  side  of  the  grave,  where,  previously  to  entering  heaven, 
we  are  made  perfect. 

II.  Consider  the  sinner  who  dies  after  a  whole  life  spent  in  sin. 
He  repents  at  the  last.    It  is  admitted  by  all  that  repentance,  even  at  the 
last  moment,  delivers  the  sinner  from  hell.    But  will  he  go  straight  to 
heaven?    Is  it  reasonable?    At  once  will  he  go  about  in  close  compan- 
ionship with  the  most  holy,  such  as  our  blessed  Lord  and  Our  Lady? 

III.  Consider  that  heaven  is  held  out  as  a  reward  for  loving  service. 
With  that  consider  the  state  of  modern  society.    No  reason  to  think  of 
its  sins.    Consider  its  negligences.   The  universal  forgetfulness  of  Christ; 
complete  absorption  in  this  life.    No  one  wants  heaven  for  its  own  sake. 
at  most,  it  is  wanted  because  men  can  not  live  here  always.     Love  of 
this  life,  and  forgetfulness  of  Christ  form  a  second  nature.    How  is  that 
to  be  changed  into  love  of  heaven  and  great  fondness  for  Christ?    Will 
this  be  done  in  a  moment?     Would  it  be  any  satisfaction  to  Christ  if, 
by  a  miracle,  in  a  moment  He  brought  it  about?    A  forced  love  is  hardly 
worth  the  having. 

IV.  Purgatory  is  the  school  of  love. 

V.  Would  heaven,  which  we  had  done  nothing  to   gain,  be  looked 
at  as  a  reward  by  the  honorable?     Should  we  not  feel  ashamed,  con- 
fused by  being  in  the  company  of  those  who  had  borne  even  perse- 
cution, while   we   had   attempted   nothing   for   Christ.     Would   not    the 
"Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant"  seem  to  us  the  perfection  of 
sarcasm  as  we  recollect,  supposing  we  have  gone  straight  to  heaven,  that 
we  were  not  good,  not  faithful,  not  the  servant  of  Christ  at  all?    Would 
not  such  considerations  make  us,  of  our  own  selves,  approach  Christ  and 
even  ask  to  be  sent  away  to  be  prepared;  so  that  heaven  might  be,  in 
some  sense,  of  our  own  gaining,  and  the  word  of  Christ  "Well  done"  be 
at  least  to  some  extent  true? 

Few  things  in  the  New  Testament  are  so  remarkable  as  the  great 
stress  which  Our  Lord  lays  upon  what  he  describes  as  being  per- 
fect, and  the  very  difficult  means  which  He  holds  out  for  the  at- 
tainment of  that  state.  The  young  man  who,  on  one  occasion,  ap- 
proached Him  with  the  desire  to  follow  Him  whithersoever  He 
went,  had,  according  to  his  own  assertion,  kept  the  Command- 
ments from  his  youth  up;  but  this  was  not  sufficient  for  Christ. 
"If  thou  wilt  be  perfect,"  He  replied,  "go  sell  all  that  thou  hast  and 
give  it  to  the  poor,  and  then  come,  follow  me."  The  state  of 


PURGATORY.  327 

perfection  is  the  following  of  Christ ;  that  ii  to  say,  it  consists  in  the 
performance  of  those  holy  actions  of  which  in  His  own  life  He 
set  the  example.  It  consists  in  undergoing  the  sufferings  and  the 
privations  of  life  in  the  same  spirit  as  that  in  which  Our  Lord 
underwent  His.  He  that  will  be  the  perfect  disciple  is  to  take  up 
his  cross,  and  that  daily;  he  is  to  be  ready  to  lose  his  life  for  the 
sake  of  Christ ;  he  is  to  prefer  poverty  to  wealth ;  meekness,  chastity, 
peacefulness,  and  even  persecution,  to  any  one  of  their  opposites. 
He  is  to  be  another  Christ.  Such  a  state  as  this  is  the  one  which 
Our  Lord  has  shown,  us  He  wishes  us  to  endeavor  to  attain  to,  and 
how  earnestly  He  wishes  it  can  be  seen  from  the  words  uttered  by 
Him  after  the  enumeration  of  some  of  the  things  above  mentioned 
as  constituting  perfection,  the  words  namely,  "Be  ye  perfect,  even 
as  your  Father  who  is  in  heaven  is  perfect." 

But  it  will  be  acknowledged  that  the  means  laid  down  by  the 
Saviour  of  the  world  would,  were  they  carried  out,  be  very  hard 
to  bear.  Indeed,  it  is  because  of  the  large  amount  of  pain  which 
they  entail  that  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  adherents  to  Chris- 
tianity either  never  dream  of  submitting  to  them,  or,  in  case  they 
are  obliged  to  do  so,  they  rebel,  and,  so  soon  as  they  are  able,  en- 
deavor to  escape  them.  Who  does  sell  all  he  has  and  bestow  it  on 
the  poor?  Or,  if  smitten  upon  the  right  cheek,  offers  the  other  to 
be  smitten  ?  Or,  to  the  person  stealing  his  cloak,  offers,  in  addition, 
his  coat?  Or  suffers  injury  without  seeking  redress,  or  persecution 
without  murmuring,  or  takes  the  daily  cross  as  a  blessing  which 
should  be  welcomed  and  cherished  rather  than  as  an  affliction  to  be 
got  rid  of  at  the  first  opportunity?  Did  Christ  never  mean,  then, 
that  the  state  of  perfection  which  He  so  often  exhorts  us  to  try  to 
reach  should  really  be  striven  for  by  us?  After  all  He  has  said  on 
the  matter,  are  we,  then,  quite  as  perfect  without  complying  with 
the  conditions  He  has  laid  down,  as  we  should  be  were  we  to  have 
taken  Him  seriously  at  His  word?  Who  will  for  one  moment 
either  say  so  or  think  so?  Who  will  not  say  that  Christ  counseled 
this  state  of  perfection  because  He  thought  it  necessary  that  we 
should  attain  to  it.  He  was  not  one  of  those  who  talk  for  the  sake 
of  talking.  He  never  gave  advice  which  was  not  really  required. 
On  no  occasion  does  He  present  Himself  as  a  person  who  would 
set  before  us  a  course  of  life,  and,  at  the  same  time,  would  lead 
us  to  understand  that  the  same  purpose  is  answered  whether  we 
follow  out  that  course  or  leave  it  alone.  What,  then,  are  we  to 


THE  CREED. 

conclude?  It  can  not  be  denied  that  exceedingly  few  indeed  ever 
dream  of  putting  the  advice  of  Our  Lord  into  practice;  in  other 
words  the  vast  majority  of  persons  prefer  not  to  become  sufficiently 
perfect  for  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven. 

What,  we  repeat,  are  we  to  conclude  from  this?  Perfection  is 
necessary.  We  can  not  hope  for  heaven  without  we  first  of  all 
attain  to  that  perfection.  What  are  we,  then,  to  conclude  from 
this,  excepting  that  after  death  some  place  must  exist  where  the 
attainment  of  that  perfection  will  not  be  left  to  us,  as  it  is  here,  but 
where  God  Himself  will  prepare  us,  will  make  us  ready,  will  perfect 
us,  so  as  to  render  us  fitted  to  dwell  near  to  Him  in  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  for  eternity  ? 

But  our  sojourn  here  on  earth  is  not  only  one  in  which  we  refuse 
to  become  as  perfect  as  our  divine  Master  would  have  us  be, 
but,  more  than  this,  the  greatest  imperfections  are  with  us  the  order 
of  the  day,  and  by  a  great  many,  very  serious  sins  are  committed. 
Can  it  really  be  a  fact  that  the  soul  of  the  sinner  is,  at  the  moment 
of  death,  at  once,  without  the  least  preparation,  to  enjoy  the  felicity 
of  paradise ;  at  once  to  be  admitted  into  that  place  which  is  a  reward 
for  perfection  and  sinlessness?  Consider  the  case  of  very  many 
who  leave  this  world  after  the  commission  of  much  the  very  op- 
posite of  righteousness — one  moment  grievous  sinners,  the  next 
face  to  face  with  their  Judge.  They  have  been  taken  away  to  the 
next  world  laden  with  iniquity,  burdened  with  defects,  bearing  upon 
their  souls  the  result  of  many  misdemeanors.  From  their  youth 
up  no  prayers  have  been  said,  no  church  frequented,  no  interest 
taken  in  the  affairs  of  God,  but,  most  likely,  a  very  sad  interest 
taken  in  those  things  which  tell  against  God  and  which  frustrate 
His  divine  plans.  At  the  last  only,  when  almost  in  the  very  arms  of 
death,  they  have  expressed  sorrow  for  the  sinful  life.  An  act  of 
contrition  has  been  made.  Pardon  for  the  wayward  career  has  been 
asked.  What  is  to  become  of  such  a  one?  Is  he  to  be  punished  for 
evermore?  Is  the  expression  of  sorrow  of  no  avail,  the  "God  be 
merciful  to  me  a  sinner"  without  some  beneficial  effect?  It  is  a 
received  doctrine  among  Christians  that,  at  whatsoever  moment, 
early  or  late,  even  at  the  very  latest,  the  sinner  returns  to  his  God, 
he  will  be  forgiven  and  will  not  be  punished  eternally:  "Living  he 
shall  live,  and  he  shall  not  die,  saith  the  Lord."  But  shall  he  go 
straight  to  heaven,  then  ?  At  once,  he  whose  soul  has  been,  up  to  the 
last  moment,  saturated,  blotched,  blurred,  defiled  with  sin, — at  once 


PURGATORY.  329 

is  such  a  one  to  walk  the  courts  of  heaven  as  a  familiar  friend  of 
angels,  of  saints,  of  our  Blessed  Lady,  of  Our  Lord ;  is  he  at  once  to 
be  in  close  companionship  with  that  God  of  whom  we  are  told  that 
nothing  denied  shall  enter  into  His  sight?  Can  we  believe  it? 
Would  it  be  fair  to  the  saints,  if  such  were  indeed  the  case?  To 
them  who  in  their  lifetime  really  did  bear  the  burdens  and  the 
heats  for  the  sake  of  Christ ;  who  were  pure  not  only  in  their  charac- 
ter, but  who  had  purified  their  soul  with  pain;  who  ran  their 
course,  who  kept  the  faith,  who  fought  the  good  fight — would  the  im- 
mediate entrance,  without  some  preparation,  into  heaven,  on  the 
part  of  the  repentant  wicked  be  just  to  such  as  these? 

Or,  consider  again  the  fact,  evident  in  every  one  of  the  pages  of 
the  New  Testament,  that  heaven  is  held  out  by  Christ  only  to  those 
who  are  engaged  in  actively  serving  Him ;  a  service,  moreover,  which 
is  to  comprise  a  real  love  of  and  fondness  for  Him — consider  that 
fact  side  by  side  with  what  is  the  general  feature  of  society  in  all  of 
its  grades  at  the  present  time — the  absence  of  actual  service  of  Christ 
and  universal  forgetfulness  of  Him.  There  is  no  need  to  think  about 
sin  in  this  consideration ;  it  is  quite  sufficient  to  point  to  the  unfitted- 
ness  of  the  majority  of  people  for  heaven,  where  they  are  to 
dwell  eternally  with  Christ,  from  the  sole  reason  that  neither  the 
one  nor  the  other  ever  enters,  in  the  least  degree,  into  their  thoughts 
or  their  actions.  There  on  the  one  hand  is  Our  Lord  longing  to 
have  each  one  of  us  with  Him  in  heaven ;  on  the  other  hand  there 
are  the  members  of  the  human  race  who  have  no  wish  to  get  there, 
unless,  perhaps,  in  quite  a  secondary  way.  At  the  same  time  as 
Christ  is  counting  the  moments  when  the  days  of  our  pilgrimage  are 
over,  we,  far  from  looking  upon  our  seeing  and  being  with  Him  in 
the  same  anxious  and  impatient  manner,  are  counting  on  reaching 
the  place  He  has  gone  beforehand  to  prepare  for  us  only  as  an 
alternative.  We  regret  we  can  not  live  here  always ;  but  as  we  feel 
confident  that  that  is  an  impossibility,  well  then,  of  course,  we  prefer 
eternal  happiness  to  a  state  of  eternal  discomfort,  or,  worse  still, 
misery.  There  is  no  sighing  for  heaven  and  Christ  in  the  same  man- 
nei  as  that  so  beautifully  mentioned  by  the  royal  prophet :  "For  thee 
my  heart  and  my  flesh  have  fainted  away."  This  is  surely  a  state  of 
mind  quite  unfitted  for  the  immediate  possession  of  the  reward  which 
Christ  is  said  to  have  in  store  only  "for  them  that  love  Him."  Our 
state  of  mind  is  altogether  in  favor  of  the  present  life.  We  need 
not,  we  repeat,  consider  the  matter  of  sin ;  without  introducing  sin 


33o  THE  CREED. 

into  the  subject  at  all,  it  must  be  clear  to  most  that,  with  the  ma- 
jority of  people  the  thoughts  of  the  mind,  the  turn  of  the  disposition, 
the  bent  of  the  inclination  are  toward  this  earth.  Life  here  has 
become  a  second  nature  to  us.  But  is  that  second  nature  to  be 
changed  at  once  so  soon  as  the  breath  is  out  of  our  body?  God 
and  Christ  will  certainly  not  have  us  with  them  unless  we  so  desire, 
and,  as  the  being  with  them  is  to  last  forever,  we  must  want  to  be 
with  them  as  vehemently  as  They  want  to  be  with  us.  Perfect  love 
of  them  must  take  possession  of  us  before  we  enter  heaven.  But  it. 
is  idle  to  deny  that  most  Christians  hardly  ever  think  of  these  Divine 
Persons,  to  say  nothing  about  having  the  sentiment  of  perfect  love  of 
them.  And  this  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  It  is  the  state  of  mind 
of  society  at  the  present  moment.  As  they  have  lived  in  that  state, 
so  they  die  in  it.  We  pass  away  with  the  thoughts  and  the  cares 
and  the  conditions  of  the  mode  of  life  here  below  intertwined 
with  our  whole  being.  All  during  that  which  the  Patriarch  calls  the 
pilgrimage  of  our  days  on  this  earth  the  great  person  with  whom  we 
are  to  spend  eternity  stands  more  or  less  in  the  last  position  within 
our  affections,  and,  too  often,  and  with  most,  is  clean  forgotten, 
quite  out  of  mind,  like  one,  as  the  prophet  puts  it,  "dead  from  the 
heart;"  mortuus  ex  corde.  A  change  surely  must  come  over  the 
whole  disposition  of  a  man  before  he  can  settle  down  to  enjoy  the 
delights  of  close  companionship  with  Christ,  the  "Lover  of  his 
soul."  And  that  change  must  surely  be,  to  some  extent,  brought 
about  by  our  own  selves.  If  as  by  a  miracle,  at  the  moment  of  our 
departure  hence,  the  Son  of  God  should  work  a  complete  change  in 
our  frame  of  mind,  in  our  habit  of  thought,  in  the  aspirations  of 
our  heart,  so  that  we  should  drop  off  all  considerations  of  the  world 
below  as  we  disuse  an  old  garment,  and  be  inflamed  with  the  love  of 
our  Master  with  so  warm  a  fire  that  even  all  the  loves  of  the  earth 
would  be  burnt  and  consumed  away  by  it ;  if  Christ  wrought  an  in- 
stantaneous change  in  us,  what  satisfaction  would  such  a  love  be  to 
Him  ?  He  loves  us  ;  but  He  desires  our  love  in  return ;  but,  then,  who 
cares  about  a  love  which  is  caused  by  some  spell  and  which,  not 
issuing  spontaneously  out  of  the  breast  of  the  beloved,  is  a  sentiment 
merely  produced  by  the  mighty  act  of  a  mightier  mind  ?  It  would  be 
very  little  consolation  to  the  King  of  heaven  throughout  the  ages  of 
eternity,  were  He  to  be  able  to  review  the  souls  of  the  blessed  in 
heaven,  and  only  be  allowed  to  say  of  an  overwhelming  majority 
of  them:  "They  love  me  because,  in  a  moment,  I  made  them 


PURGATORY.  331 

do  so.  They  were  never  schooled  in  love  for  me.  On  the 
earth  where  they  might,  and  should,  have  learned  that  lesson  I 
was  hardly  ever  thought  of  by  them.  In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  I 
forced  them  to  love  me."  Not  so  does  affection,  which  is  in  the 
least  degree  worth  having,  come  for  a  person  who  has  previously 
never  been  cared  for,  never  considered,  altogether  out  of  mind. 
It  takes  time.  It  comes  by  a  gradual  process.  And  that  gradual 
process  of  learning  to  love  Christ  in  such  a  manner  that  the  senti- 
ment may  be  said  to  be  ours,  and  not  one  that  He  has  forced  upon 
us,  will  not  take  place  in  heaven,  since  "a  process  of  learning"  is 
another  way  of  saying  a  state  of  preparation,  and  heaven  is  not 
preparation  but  the  reward  held  out  to  the  ready  and  prepared.  But 
if  the  place  of  preparation  is  not  heaven  itself,  and,  as  we  have 
presumed  earth  has  passed  away,  where  can  the  preparation  take 
place  if  there  be  no  purgatory? 

For  whatever  else  may  or  may  not  be  said  of  purgatory,  one  of 
the  things,  and  one  of  the  chief  things  which  must  be  said  of  it,  is 
that  it  is  the  school  of  love.  It  is  there  that,  step  by  step,  we  rise 
to  the  gaining  of  that  perfect  fondness  for  Christ,  which  the  best  of 
us,  even,  hardly  attain  to  here,  and  from  which  most  of  us  are  re- 
moved even  to  the  extreme  of  coldness,  such  is  our  forgetfulness 
of  Him  and  of  His  claims.  "Depart  from  me"  He  will  say  to  the 
soul  when,  in  death,  it  meets  Him.  "Depart;  but  not  forever. 
Depart  into  the  outer  darkness,  although  not  to  remain  there 
always.  Day  by  day  you  shall  now  learn  the  lesson  which  you 
should  have  learned  on  earth.  It  will  not  be  done  in  a  moment,  or 
without  your  feeling  something  on  account  of  it;  for  all  learning 
is  a  gradual  process,  and  no  lesson  is  perfectly  known  unless  it  cause 
inconvenience,  sometimes  great  pain,  in  the  acquisition.  But  learn 
to  love  you  shall.  You  shall  then  return  to  me,  and  stay  and  dwell 
with  me  where  you  will  have  the  satisfaction  of  being  completely 
happy,  and  where  7  shall  have  the  satisfaction  of  knowing  that  you 
love  me,  your  God,  not  because  I,  in  one  moment  forced  you  to  do 
so,  but,  because,  to  some  extent  you  acquired  that  love  yourself. 
Learn  it,  that  is,  in  a  place  where  the  very  separation  from  me 
itself  increased  your  longing  for  heaven  and  me  as  the  hart  thirsteth 
for  the  water  brooks;  in  purgatory,  namely,  where  absence  from 
me  became  like  a  load  upon  your  heart  weighing  you  down,  and 
the  thoughts  of  me,  and  desire  for  me,  brought  tears  to  the  eyes 
of  your  soul." 


332  THE  CREED. 

Finally,  our  own  feelings  of  self  respect  and  of  honor  should 
incline  us  to  admit  the  existence  of  a  place  of  preparation  and 
of  purification  before  heaven  can  be  entered.  Every  one  will 
agree  that  in  heaven  the  finest  and  truest  ideas  of  honor  and 
of  equity  will  rule  in  the  minds  of  all.  That  there  could  be  ad- 
mitted in  that  place  anything  but  the  finest  sentiments  of  our  nature 
is  itself  a  supposition  which  even  the  wicked  would  ridicule.  But 
could  the  honorable  man  support  heaven  for  one  moment,  con- 
stantly, continually,  eternally  fraternizing  with  those  who  had 
worked,  suffered,  struggled,  to  obtain  that  reward,  for  which  if 
there  were  no  state  of  preparation  He  himself  would  have  done  and 
suffered  nothing?  Would  he  not  find  it  difficult  indeed  to  be  at  his 
ease  were  he  placed  in  the  same  position,  awarded  the  same  honors, 
raised  to  the  same  level,  given  exactly  the  same  delights,  the  signs 
of  his  Saviour's  love,  as  those  who  really  had  done  and  submitted  to 
something  while  he  could  not  pretend  to  having  made  even  one  small 
effort  ?  He  did  nothing ;  he  knew  that  he  had  done  nothing ;  Christ, 
too,  knew  that  he  did  nothing.  No  honorable  man,  we  repeat,  could 
support  such  a  state.  His  whole  heart  and  mind  would  plead  to 
Christ  for  a  purgatory.  He  would  ask  to  be  sent  away  from  heaven, 
for  a  time,  to  a  place  of  preparation.  Then  he  could  come  back,  and 
could  feel  like  the  rest  that  he  had  won  his  crown  by  some  kind  of 
personal  effort.  Then  the  words  of  Christ  would  be  deprived  of 
their  sting  and  it  would  be  truthfully  said  "Well  done,"  and  "Good," 
and  "Faithful  Servant," 


HELL. 


333 


XXXIX.    HELL. 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REV.  JAMES  BELLORD,  D.D. 

*The  iniquity  of  the  house  of  Israel  and  of  Judah  is  exceeding  great.  .  .  . 
The  city  is  filled  with  perverseness,  for  they  have  said :  the  Lord  hath  forsaken 
the  earth  and  the  Lord  seeth  not.  Therefore  neither  shall  my  eye  spare,  nor 
will  I  have  pity :  I  will  requite  their  way  upon  their  head." — Ezech.  ix,  9,  10. 

SYNOPSIS. — /.  The  wickedness  of  the  Jews  brought  down  the  punishment 
of  God  upon  them.  The  superabundant  evil  of  these  days  likewise  merits 
punishment.  Vincible  ignorance  no  excuse.  Violation  of  eternal  laws< 
to  be  -visited  by  eternal  punishment.  The  doctrine  of  hell,  -vigorously  at- 
tacked by  doubt,  scepticism,  sophistry,  ridicule,  misrepresentation,  etc. 

II.  The  doctrine  denied  by  the  many;  by  the  scientific,  but  the  argu- 
ments adduced  are  unscientific.  Prayer,  fasting,  mortification  are  the  books 
from  which  are  learned  the  truths  of  God. 

HI.  The  doctrine  of  hell  distorted,  not  considered  in  connection  with 
correlated  doctrines.  Made  repulsive  by  Calvin's  blasphemous  position; 
rejected  by  reason  of  the  denial  of  purgatory;  abandoned  by  those  who 
dwell  exclusively  on  the  physical  sufferings  of  hell. 

IV.  Chief  cause  of  denial  of  this  doctrine  is  the  moral  disposition  of 
men,  viz.,  (a)  rejection  of  everything  supernatural;  (b)  sensuality;  (c) 
pride;  (d)  general  sinfulness.  The  rejection  of  this  truth  the  surest  way 
to  hell.  God's  grace  enlightening  and  sanctifying  us  will  preserve  uf 
from  this  punishment. 

I.  In  this  passage  the  prophet  gives  us  to  understand  that  the 
wickedness  of  the  chosen  people  was  completed  and  its  measure 
filled  up,  by  their  disbelief  in  the  vigilance  and  stern  justice  of  God. 
Punishment  was  inevitable  for  their  sins.  They  sought  to  escape 
from  this  crushing  knowledge  by  asserting  that  God  could  not  see 
them  or  would  not  punish  them.  "How  doth  God  know,  or  is  there 
knowledge  in  the  Most  High"  (Ps.  Ixii,  u).  But  this  ignorance 
did  not  alter  facts ;  it  did  not  excuse  them  like  that  ignorance  which 
is  invincible ;  it  only  indicated  a  deeper  perversity  of  heart  and  at- 
tracted a  severer  punishment.  The  present  times  may  very  well  be 
compared  with  those.  There  is  the  same  superabounding  wicked- 
ness, the  same  resistance  to  light  and  truth,  the  same  denial  of  divine 
knowledge  and  future  retribution.  There  are  many  who  say,  in 
effect  and  in  actual  word,  "The  Lord  seeth  not."  Let  us  make  the 
most  of  this  life  for  there  is  no  other.  We  can  sin  freely,  we  may 
gratify  every  desire ;  there  is  no  judgment,  there  is  no  place  of  pun- 
ishment hereafter,  and  with  due  precautions  we  shall  escape  punish- 


334  THE  CREED. 

ment  even  here.  But  yet  "the  Lord  shall  laugh  at  him:  for  He 
foreseeth  that  his  day  shall  come"  (Ps.  xxxvi,  13). 

The  present  age  has  gone  beyond  all  those  that  are  past,  in  deny- 
ing the  existence  of  hell.  Hitherto  the  voice  of  the  Church,  the  voice 
of  Scripture,  the  voice  of  nature,  reason,  and  conscience,  have  con- 
vinced even  the  most  lawless  sects  that  an  eternal  punishment  awaits 
the  violation  of  eternal  laws.  But  now,  various  causes  have  com- 
bined to  lead  most  of  those  who  are  outside  the  Catholic  Church 
to  reject  this  most  important  truth.  Pride  of  intellect  and  spiritual 
ignorance,  the  tendency  to  rebellion  and  moral  corruption,  have 
created  a  new  spirit  of  the  age,  which  has  set  itself  resolutely  in  op- 
position to  this  doctrine.  Against  it  have  been  marshaled  all  the 
forces  of  sophistry,  ridicule,  misrepresentation.  The  attack  has 
been  most  vigorously  conducted  with  so  much  success  outside  the  one 
true  Church  of  Christ,  that  its  leaders  boast  of  having  forever  deliv- 
ered mankind  (i.  e.  certain  sections  of  some  communities),  from  "an 
appalling  burthen  of  cruelty  and  terror."  Our  task  is  to  see  how 
conformable  is  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  hell,  as  to  its  existence, 
its  torments,  its  eternity,  with  right  reason  and  natural  law.  We 
will  consider  the  denial  of  hell,  how  it  has  been  encouraged  by 
the  prevailing  spirit  of  the  world,  and  how  the  incomplete  presenta- 
tion of  the  doctrine  by  heresy  has  made  it  seem  distorted,  incon- 
sistent with  other  truths,  and  incredible. 

II.  The  deniers  of  hell  rely  upon  their  multitude  and  their  posi- 
tion as  men  of  science.  To  the  mind  that  has  any  belief  in  Chris- 
tianity, this  is  not  of  much  weight.  Religious  truth  is  not  a  matter 
that  is  decided  by  a  counting  of  votes  like  an  election  or  a  criminal 
trial.  There  have  been  times  when  truth  was  with  the  minority  as 
when  Our  Lord  was  condemned  by  the  civil  and  the  religious  tri- 
bunals, by  the  government,  and  by  the  populace.  In  such  a  case  we 
have  only  to  remember  the  prophet's  servant,  who  was  terrified 
by  the  army  with  horses  and  chariots  that  had  come  out  against 
them.  Eliseus  answered,  "Fear  not,  for  there  are  more  with  us  than 
against  us,"  and  the  servant's  eyes  were  opened  to  see  the  whole 
mountain  full  of  horses  and  chariots  of  fire  (IV  Kings  vi,  16,  17). 
There  have  been  times  when  truth  was  not  with  the  learned  and  the 
great ;  so  it  was  when  our  Lord's  enemies  asked,  "Hath  any  one  of 
the  rulers  believed  in  him,  or  of  the  Pharisees?"  (John  vii,  48).  In 
such  a  case  we  may  remember  that  human  opinions  are  of  no  account, 
that  they  vary  from  age  to  age,  and  like  the  wind,  are  never  fixed. 


HELL. 


335 


Who  are  those  who  presume  to  deny  offhand  this  great  mystery  of 
divine  justice?  Are  they  men  enlightened  by  the  Spirit  of  God, 
who  have  meditated  on  His  word  in  fasting  and  prayer?  Are  they 
men  of  rigid  virtue  and  spiritual  experience?  Not  so.  The  more 
creditable  among  them  are  men  whose  training  and  whose  knowledge 
are  confined  to  worldly  and  material  sciences,  and  rather  unfit  them 
than  otherwise  for  spiritual  investigations.  The  majority  are  men 
of  profligate  life,  hostile  to  truth  and  virtue,  who  desire  that  there 
should  be  no  hell  to  punish  them  for  their  past  sins  or  disturb  the 
enjoyment  of  future  ones.  They  are  most  anxious  to  mislead 
others,  so  as  to  gain  further  confidence  from  their  numbers.  Those 
are  they  whom  Jesus  Christ  calls  the  world.  Their  earthly  and 
carnal  standards  can  not  be  applied  as  tests  of  supernatural  truths. 
Their  judgments  are  bound  to  be  diametrically  opposite  to  the  judg- 
ments of  God.  Their  condemnation  of  any  doctrine  almost  amounts 
to  a  proof  of  its  truth. 

III.  One  of  the  chief  causes  of  disbelief  in  hell  is  the  very  dis- 
torted form  in  which  the  doctrine  has  been  presented  to  those  outside 
the  Church.  It  does  not  occur  to  them  to  examine  the  doctrine  at 
its  source  and  to  enquire  what  is  the  Catholic  view.  They  take  their 
notions  of  Christian  doctrine  from  some  heresy  condemned  by  the 
Christian  Church.  They  make  no  account  of  the  teaching  of  that 
body  which  alone  has  treated  these  subjects  scientifically,  which  has 
a  life  five  times  longer  than  the  oldest  of  the  sects,  and  which  em- 
braces the  large  majority  of  professing  Christians. 

i.  Hell  is  connected  with  other  truths,  and  as  these  truths  lose 
their  hold  on  men,  so  does  belief  in  hell  fade  away.  The  idea  of 
God  has  degenerated.  Men  have  lost  the  sense  of  His  presence,  and 
of  that  infinite  holiness  which  is  too  pure  to  behold  iniquity.  They 
think  of  God  as  if  He  held  the  world's  view  about  sin.  They  have 
no  notion  of  the  infinite  malice,  ingratitude  and  filthiness  of  mortal 
sin.  They  look  on  it  just  as  an  amiable  weakness,  often  as  a  mere 
joke ;  if  they  do  ever  disapprove  of  it,  it  is  only  because  it  is  coarse, 
or  offensive,  or  injurious  to  temporal  interests.  And  they  imagine 
that  when  the  positive  act  of  sin  is  over  nothing  of  it  remains,  no 
permanent  stain  on  the  soul,  no  obstinate  adherence  of  the  will  to  it, 
no  complete  severance  from  God,  nothing  but  what  can  be  rectified 
by  a  brief  punishment.  So  far  as  they  do  consider  God  in  the 
matter,  they  picture  Him  as  possessing  only  one  attribute,  viz.,  the 
sort  of  weakly  benevolence  that  has  come  to  replace  divine  charity 


336 


THE  CREED. 


V 


in  so  many  minds.  Not  knowing  how  to  reconcile  infinite  mercy 
with  vigorous  justice,  they  drop  the  justice  entirely  out  of  sight,  and 
they  interpret  mercy  as  being  indifference  to  sin.  If  they  studied 
properly  the  terrible  mysteries  of  the  Passion  and  Death  of  Our 
Lord,  if  they  realized  the  cost  at  which  He  atoned  for  sin,  they 
might  perhaps  understand  the  sterness  of  divine  justice,  the  vio- 
lence of  sin,  and  the  consequences  it  must  entail  on  those  who  die  in 
it  obstinate  and  unforgiven.  Thus  it  comes  to  pass  that  hell  is 
looked  at  out  of  connection  with  other  doctrines;  the  consistency 
and  reasonableness  of  the  doctrine  are  not  grasped,  and  men  are 
only  too  eager  to  dismiss  it  from  their  creed. 

2.  Another  thing  that  has  made  hell  revolting  to  many  minds  is  the 
blasphemous  doctrine  of  Calvin  concerning  it;  viz.,  that  some  men 
are  destined  for  heaven,  and  some  for  hell ;  that  these  last  are  cre- 
ated by  God  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  being  condemned  eternally, 
as  a  manifestation  of  the  divine  severity.     This  blasphemy  was,  of 
course,  condemned  by  the  Catholic  Church,  and  probably  at  this  day, 
very  few  Calvinists  even  would  dare  to  maintain  it.    Yet  those  who 
condescend  to  argument  in  opposing  hell  persist  in  taking  this  hide- 
ous caricature  as  representing,  not  merely  the  belief  of  all  Protes- 
tants, but  even  of  the  Catholic  Church ;  they  allow  their  just  indig- 
nation to  carry  them  too  far,  and  not  content  with  rejecting  the 
parody  of  the  truth,  they  reject  the  truth  itself. 

3.  Another  thing  that  has  caused  modern  Protestants  to  deny  hell 
is  the  confusion  in  their  theology  caused  by  the  denial  of  purgatory 
at  the  time  of  the  Reformation.     Purgatory  is  one  of  the  points  of 
reconciliation  between  God's  mercy  and  His  justice.    The  knowledge 
of  a  place  where  the  minor  debts  due  to  transgressions  can  be  paid, 
and  where  the  perfecting  of  the  soul  for  heaven  can  be  completed, 
enables  the  Catholics  to  hope  for  the  salvation  of  many  whom  the 
consistent  Protestant  must  believe  to  be  lost.     Those  who  believe 
that  there  are  only  two  states  after  death,  and  that  every  man  enters 
at  once  into  final  happiness  or  final  misery,  have  to  believe  that  those 
who  are  not  perfectly  fit  for  heaven  must  be  lost  forever.    Yet  it  is 
so  evident  that  very  few,  even  good  persons,  are  fit  for  immediate 
admission  into  the  presence  of  God ;  it  may  be  that  they  are  cut  off 
suddenly,  or  they  are  full  of  imperfections,  or  they  are  in  the  habit 
of  some  smaller  sins;  these  smaller  sins,  the  consistent  Protestant 
must  hold,  can  be  punished  only  in  hell.     This  makes  the  doctrine 
of  hell  far  more  rigorous  than  it  is  in  the  Catholic  Church.    It  must 


HELL.  337 

inspire  an  uneasy  fear  as  to  almost  all  who  die ;  it  makes  salvation 
appear  impossible  for  the  vast  majority.  It  excites  the  fear  that 
many  of  the  lost  have  been  treated  with  great  severity,  or  even  injus- 
tice. Purgatory  gives  the  Catholic  hope  as  to  doubtful  cases,  and 
makes  him  feel  that  any  one,  no  matter  what  his  life,  may  possibly 
be  saved.  In  their  ignorance  of  purgatory,  some  Protestants  have 
rejected  the  idea  of  future  punishment  entirely  as  involving  harsh- 
ness in  God  and  the  loss  of  so  many  souls.  Others,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  prevented  by  Scripture  and  reason  from  denying  future 
punishment  entirely;  they  see  that  almost  all  men  deserve  some 
kind  of  punishment  after  death,  they  shrink  from  declaring  it  to 
be  eternal  for  all  of  those,  so  they  would  make  out  that  it  is 
eternal  for  none.  They  would  make  hell  a  place  of  temporary  suf- 
fering and  purgation.  They  can  find  no  escape  from  the  difficulties 
created  by  the  denial  of  purgatory,  but  in  now  denying  hell,  or  else 
making  of  it  a  purgatory  for  all  men  without  the  name. 

4.  Others  have  been  misled  as  to  the  nature  of  hell  by  dwelling 
exclusively  on  the  descriptions  of  physical  tortures  with  their  mate- 
rial details,  and  by  not  distinguishing  between  liberal  and  figurative 
expressions.  They  think  of  hell  as  simply  a  place  of  fuel  and  flames 
and  the  undying  worm,  and  forget  that  the  loss  of  God  is  the  chief 
and  essential  punishment  in  hell,  and  that  this  constitutes  damnation 
in  its  strict  sense.  The  neglect  to  take  account  of  this  gives  quite 
a  different  aspect  to  the  doctrine  of  hell,  and  has  led  men  to  reject 
it  as  too  gross  and  material. 

These  different  kinds  of  misrepresentation  have  formed  the  basis 
for  attacks  upon  hell.  In  no  case  has  the  real  doctrine,  as  laid  down 
by  the  Church,  been  fairly  met  and  discussed,  but  only  some  figment 
that  does  duty  for  it.  It  needs  little  more  than  a  plain  statement  of 
the  doctrine  of  the  Church,  to  refute  most  of  the  current  objections 
about  hell. 

IV.  But,  after  all,  honest  investigation  and  good  will  help  men 
to  rectify  most  misrepresentations :  the  chief  cause  of  the  denial  of 
hell  is  to  be  found  in  men's  own  dispositions,  in  the  character  which 
they  have  formed  for  themselves  or  the  age  has  formed  in  them. 
They  do  not  believe  in  hell,  because  for  reasons  of  their  own  they 
do  not  wish  to  believe  in  it. 

I.  First  there  is  a  deep-seated  spirit  of  hostility  to  the  supernatural. 
Many  are  completely  wrapped  up  and  engrossed  in  the  things  of  this 
world,  convinced  that  they  are  the  sole  matters  of  importance,  the 


338 


THE   CREED. 


sole  reality  in  life.  They  care  for  nothing  else,  they  give  no  thought 
to  anything  else,  and  at  last  they  come  to  think  there  is  nothing  else. 
They  hate  the  intrusion  of  the  supernatural  into  the  sphere  of  the 
natural ;  they  can  not  bear  that  any  man's  conduct  should  be  guided 
by  considerations  of  God  and  His  law,  of  the  soul,  its  sanctification 
and  salvation.  Above  all  things  they  abhor  the  terrors  of  the  super- 
natural, and  treat  them  as  ghost  stories  for  frightening  children. 
Materialism  and  naturalism,  or  the  concupiscence  of  the  eyes,  this 
enemy  of  salvation  is  one  great  enemy  of  belief  in  hell. 

2.  Next  comes  the  spirit  of  sensuality  and  luxury,  the  delight  in 
the  pleasures  of  life,  in  softness  and  refinement.     Where  this  pre- 
vails, suffering  is  considered  as  the  greatest  of  evils ;  its  function  is 
not  understood,  nor  its  uses  in  the  hand  of  God  for  purifying  and 
for  chastising.     Pain  comes  to  be  considered  as  essentially  evil,  a 
thing  not  to  be  tolerated  or  permitted  by  a  merciful  or  good  being ; 
it  is  a  greater  evil  than  sin  itself,  and  must  not  be  used  for  the  pun- 
ishment or  even  for  the  suppression  of  crime.     To  minds  full  of 
this  spirit  the  idea  of  hell  is  most  shocking.    A  place  where  there  is 
no  pleasure  or  refinement,  nothing  but  most  terrible  and  eternal 
pains,   is  too  gross   for  their  fine   sensibilities.     They   are  much 
of  the  opinion  of  the  old  French  duchess,  that  God  would  think 
twice  before  condemning  a  person  of  her  quality  to  hell. 

3.  Pride  also  causes  men  to  revolt  against  belief  in  hell.     It  is 
humiliating  to  their  dignity  to  quail  before  what  they  choose  to  con- 
sider as  a  threat,  or  to  admit  that  they  can  be  on  a  level  with  crim- 
inals, and  may  have  to  share  the  fate  of  the  vilest  of  mankind.    It 
gratifies  their  pride,  it  gives  them  a  momentary  superiority  over  reli- 
gion, over  God  Himself,  to  laugh  at  His  wrath  and  to  go  their  way 
regardless  of  His  laws. 

4.  Then  there  is  the  exceedingly  great  sinfulness  of  men  in  gen- 
eral, especially  of  those  who  have  thrown  off  the  restraints  of  reli- 
gion.   They  have  been  led  into  sin  early,  they  are  surrounded  by  it, 
they  have  run  after  it  eagerly,  it  has  become  part  of  their  lives ;  it 
is  like  the  atmosphere,  which  they  breathe  without  being  conscious  of 
it,  it  is  second  nature  to  them.     The  mind  is  perverted,  remorse 
has  ceased,  the  conscience  has  been  falsified  or  silenced.    Men  have 
formed  a  new  moral  code  for  themselves,  which  is  almost  the  oppo- 
site of  that  which  God  has  given  us  through  conscience  and  religion. 
They  will  not  recognize  the  horrible  wickedness  of  habits  which 
prevail  in  their  circle  uncondemned.    They  will  not  admit  that  the 


HELL,  339 

violation  of  such  unimportant  laws  as  those  of  faith,  mortification, 
chastity,  benevolence,  honesty,  can  be  visited  with  so  terrible  and 
widespread  a  punishment. 

Many  may  rejoice  in  the  spread  of  incredulity  about  hell  and 
think  it  a  victory  over  religion  and  God,  but  in  reality  it  is  one 
of  the  severest  punishments  of  men's  sins.  They  have  despised  the 
light  of  truth,  and  it  is  becoming  obscured  and  lost  to  them.  This  is 
the  immediate  consequence  of  their  worldliness,  pride,  and  sensu- 
ality; and  the  consequence  of  sin  is  also  its  punishment.  The  loss 
of  this  truth  relieves  the  sinner  from  the  wholesome  restraint  of  fear, 
it  closes  in  great  measure  the  opening  to  repentance,  it  leads  to  fur- 
ther sins  and  greater  ultimate  punishment.  An  increase  of  crime 
follows  as  a  punishment  on  the  denial  of  hell,  and  so  the  denial  of 
hell  becomes  the  surest  way  of  bringing  men  thither. 

May  God  grant  us  a  firm  belief  in  all  the  truths  He  has  revealed, 
in  those  of  His  terrible  justice  no  less  than  in  those  of  His  mercy. 
May  we  ever  understand  the  enormity  of  sin,  the  outrage  it  inflicts 
on  God  and  the  degradation  on  ourselves,  the  infinite  price  Our 
Lord  paid  to  expiate  it,  and  the  terrible  woes  of  such  as  refuse 
that  expiation.  May  we  never  be  led  by  the  false  wisdom  of  the 
world,  or  terrified  by  its  denunciations  or  its  ridicule,  into  a  doubt  of 
this  important  doctrine.  The  words  of  God  may  contradict  our 
pride  and  our  sensuality,  they  may  be  terrible  to  us,  but  they  are 
for  our  advantages,  spiritual  and  temporal;  they  may  be  words  of 
wrath,  but  they  are  at  the  same  time  words  of  eternal  life. 


THE   CREED. 


XL.    THE  DANGER  OF  DAMNATION. 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REV.  JAMES  BELLORD,  D.D. 
"With  fear  and  trembling  work  out  your  salvation."— Phil,  ii,  12. 

SYNOPSIS.— Words  of  the  text  addressed  to  good  Christians.     They  hold 
good  for  us  and  for  our  times,  no  matter  how  virtuous  we  may  be. 

I.  Ignorance  of  the  danger  is  a  danger  in  itself. 

II.  Holy  Scripture  warns  us  of  the  danger  of  damnation,  (a)  Words 
and  parables  of  Our  Lord;   (b)   Examples  of  Adam,  David,  Sampson, 
Solomon,  St.  Peter,  Judas. 

HI.    Lives  of  the  saints  teach  the  same  doctrine. 

IV.  Existence  of  the  Sacrament  of  Penance  no  excuse  for  neglect 
of  danger. 

V.  Other  graces  needed  besides  those  given  in  Sacrament  of  Pen- 
ance to  insure  salvation.    The  lesson  of  the  failures  of  others,  e.  g.,  one 
of  the  forty  martyrs;  companions  of  Japanese  martyrs. 

VI.  Our  present  state  of  goodness  no  proof  of  future  salvation. 
Great  graces  mean  greater  responsibilities. 

VII.  The  wickedness  of  others  no  assurance  of  our  escape  from  hell. 

VIII.  The  goodness  and  mercy  of  God  no  proof  of  the  certainty  of 
our  salvation.    Death  of  the  apostle  and  the  robber. 

IX.  Yet  all  things  possible  to  God;   (a)  grace  sufficient  given;   (6) 
co-operation  required;   (c)  watchfulness;   (d)   constant  prayer  with  hu- 
mility will  surely  succeed. 

These  words  of  the  Apostle  were  addressed,  not  to  sinners,  but  to 
His  dearly  beloved  disciples  who  had  always  obeyed ;  not  to  those  who 
were  at  the  moment  walking  the  path  to  hell,  but  to  the  just  who 
were  doing  well,  of  whom  there  were  good  hopes,  who  were  really 
working  out  their  salvation,  who  were  visibly  on  the  way  to  heaven. 

How  many  are  there  among  similar  Christians  who  act  in  this 
way?  Very  few  indeed.  Fear  and  trembling  in  working  out  their 
salvation  are,  as  a  rule,  about  the  last  things  to  enter  into  their 
minds.  They  are  filled  with  horror  now  and  then  when  they  picture 
to  themselves  the  sufferings  of  hell,  the  abandonment  by  God,  the 
society  of  the  wicked,  the  despair,  the  eternity.  But  they  soon 
recover  from  such  feelings  and  relapse  into  their  usual  easy-going 
state  of  mind.  The  average  Christian  is  very  tranquil  about  his  sal- 
vation, he  looks  forward  with  great  assurance  to  heaven,  as  if  it  were 
his  already.  He  goes  on  quietly,  attending  pretty  regularly  to  all 
his  spiritual  and  worldly  duties,  not  disturbing  himself  about  venial 
sins,  falling  occasionally  into  mortal,  confessing  them  in  due  course 


THE  DANGER  OF  DAMNATION.  341 

.without  overmuch  sorrow,  and  troubling  no  more  about  them.  He 
is  not  mortified  or  troubled,  does  not  do  much  good,  but  takes  his 
ease,  is  very  well  contented  with  this  world,  and  makes  the  most 
of  it.  He  gives  no  great  scandal,  falls  into  no  very  grave  neglect 
of  God,  and  on  the  whole  is  a  good  man.  It  would  seem  from  such 
lives  that  it  is  the  easiest  thing  possible  to  work  out  our  salvation ; 
that  we  have  little  else  to  do  but  to  be  passive,  and  trust  to  the  in- 
finite merits  of  our  Blessed  Redeemer  who  has  taken  everything  on 
Himself.  If  we  were  asked  whether  we  were  in  the  least  danger  of 
eternal  condemnation,  we  should  generally,  after  making  the  slight 
reservations  that  are  supposed  to  be  due  to  modesty,  answer  that  we 
were  not  in  any  danger  of  such  misery.  The  question,  however,  is  by 
no  means  an  idle  one.  We  need  to  put  it  to  ourselves,  and  seriously 
reflect  upon  it.  Judging  ourselves  and  our  prospects  with  severity, 
as  we  ought,  we  may  discover  that  we  are  in  considerable  peril  of 
losing  our  souls. 

1.  The  fact  of  concluding  that  we  are  not  in  such  danger  is  in 
itself  a  very  great  danger.     To  be  contented  with  ourselves  is  no 
small  degree  of  pride.    To  be  without  fear  of  hell  is  by  no  means 
the  proper  way  of  avoiding  hell.     It  comes  perilously  near  the 
unchristian  arrogance  which  shocks  us  in  those  who  say  trium- 
phantly that  they  are  already  saved.    No  one  who  has  ever  heard  of 
the  virtue  of  humility  could  say  such  a  thing.     But  do  not  many 
think  it  in  effect,  in  the  secret  of  their  hearts?    We  are  bound  to 
fear  for  our  salvation ;  not  with  a  fictitious  fear  and  a  sham  modesty, 
as  who  should  say :  "I  must  conceal  my  real  goodness  and  excellent 
prospects  from  my  own  eyes,  lest  I  puff  myself  up  with  pride,  and 
so  destroy  both  the  goodness  and  the  prospects."     This  would  be 
unreality,  insincerity,  and  not  according  to  the  mind  of  Him  who  is 
infinite  truth  and  truthfulness.    It  would  be  a  thin  veiling  of  actual 
presumption  under  the  appearance  of  humility,  a  pharisaical  and  un- 
safe state.    Let  us  recognize  our  actual  goodness,  but  in  all  its  small- 
ness  and  instability ;  let  us  recognize  that  there  is  real  danger  of  hell, 
and  serious  cause  for  fear,  and  let  us  make  every  provision  against 
so  great  a  calamity. 

2.  What  are  the  teachings  of  Holy  Scripture  on  this  matter? 
Surely  that  the  work  of  our  salvation  is  most  serious,  and  difficult, 
and  uncertain,  and  that  it  demands  all  our  energies.     Our  Lord 
says  nothing  about  its  easiness  and  simplicity,  and  our  leaving  it 
all  to  Him ;  but  He  bids  us  frequently  to  watch,  and  pray,  and 


342  THE  CREED. 

beware  of  temptation;  He  tells  us  of  the  difficulties  of  the  narrow 
way,  of  the  many  tribulations  through  which  we  must  pass;  of 
denying  ourselves  and  taking  up  our  cross  if  we  would  follow 
Him;  of  renouncing  all  our  possessions  to  become  His  disciples,  of 
doing  violence  to  gain  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Then  in  many 
parables  He  reminds  us  of  the  numerous  failures,  of  many  called 
and  few  chosen,  of  the  few  who  find  the  entrance  of  the  narrow 
way  though  many  seek  it,  of  the  negligence  which  excluded  the 
thoughtless  virgins  from  the  marriage  feast.  Moreover,  after  we 
have  done  all  things,  our  salvation  is  still  uncertain.  "There  are 
just  men  and  wise  men,  and  their  works  are  in  the  hand  of  God ; 
and  yet  man  knoweth  not  whether  he  be  worthy  of  love  or  hatred" 
(Eccl.  ix,  i).  The  holiest  of  men  were  full  of  fear  on  account  of 
the  uncertainty  of  their  future.  David,  when  in  the  grace  of  God, 
looked  back  upon  his  past  and  prayed:  "From  my  hidden  sins 
cleanse  me,  O  Lord,  and  from  those  of  others  spare  thy  servant" 
(Ps.  xviii,  13).  He  feared  they  might  have  dominion  over  him,  and 
therefore  he  dared  not  say  he  was  without  spot.  St.  Paul  with  the 
knowledge  of  his  great  labors  and  supernatural  gifts,  looked  to  the 
future,  and  had  misgivings  lest,  after  preaching  to  others,  he  should 
himself  become  a  castaway.  There  are  abundant  examples  that 
prove  the  frailty  of  men  even  when  raised  to  high  sanctity.  Adam 
in  paradise,  Sampson,  the  judge  of  Israel,  David,  the  friend  of  God, 
Solomon,  wisest  of  men,  St.  Peter,  the  prince  of  Apostles,  Judas, 
another  of  the  twelve,  these  prove  that  no  man  can  consider  himself 
confirmed  in  grace  and  sure  of  eternal  life. 

3.  In  the  lives  of  the  saints  of  God,  we  may  see  how  to  read  the 
foregoing  teachings  of  God's  word.  They  took  them,  not  as  pious 
exaggerations,  but  in  all  their  literalness.  Among  the  sentiments 
common  to  all  the  saints  was  an  extreme  fear  of  the  vigor  of  the 
divine  judgments,  a  fear  that  bears  all  the  signs  of  perfect  sincerity. 
Can  we  say  that  this  was  really  ungrounded,  that  it  was  a  pious  self- 
deception,  or  an  involuntary  falsehood,  and  that  such  a  thing  is 
wholesome?  Not  so.  That  which  is  untrue  can  never  be  good. 
There  must  have  been  solid  reason  for  these  friends  of  God  to  feel 
such  fear  and  trembling  in  working  out  their  salvation.  As  we  read 
their  histories  we  can  not  feel  that  there  was  any  room  for  fear; 
but  then  we  read  with  the  knowledge  of  subsequent  events.  As  mat- 
ters have  turned  out  they  are  saved,  and  the  probabilities  were  that 
they  would  be  saved.  But  before  their  deaths  there  could  not  be  any 


THE  DANGER  OF  DAMNATION.  343 

certainty,  except  so  far  as  it  was  made  known  by  divine  revelation. 
Their  salvation,  though  foreseen  by  God,  was  conditional  on  their 
humility,  and  prayer,  and  perseverance.  They  were  still  in  the 
balance,  and  not  confirmed  in  grace ;  their  free  will  was  in  no  way 
necessitated  toward  God.  Their  privileges,  their  aids  from  God 
were  enormous,  but  their  responsibilities  were  equally  enormous ; 
trials  and  perils  awaited  them  greater  than  we  can  conceive,  and 
punishment  too  if  they  had  failed.  Therefore  they  were  full  of  fear. 
Yet  we  dare  to  presume  where  the  saints  trembled ;  we  fools  rush  in 
where  angels  fear  to  tread. 

4.  But  on  the  other  hand,  we  may  bring  forward  the  Sacrament  of 
Penance,  and  take  great  comfort  to  ourselves  from  it.  We  may  say 
to  ourselves :  Is  not  Our  Lord's  Word  positive,  "whose  sins  you 
shall  forgive  they  are  forgiven"?  Is  not  the  Precious  Blood  truly 
applied  to  us  to  wash  away  all  our  stains?  The  conditions  of  for- 
giveness are  distinctly  laid  down  by  the  infallible  voice  of  the  Church. 
We  have  confessed  our  sins  as  far  as  we  knew  them ;  and  even  those 
we  have  inculpably  forgotten  have  still  fallen  under  the  power  of 
the  keys.  Though  our  contrition  has  not  been  intense,  still  is  it  not 
one  great  benefit  of  the  sacrament  that  it  gives  to  a  low  degree  of 
contrition,  a  sufficiency  in  the  tribunal  which  it  does  not  possess 
without  it?  How,  then,  can  we  fear  and  tremble  without  calling 
into  question  truths  which  are  of  faith? 

In  consequence  of  this,  we  think  it  safe  to  put  away  our  sins 
and  neglect  all  further  penance  for  them.  After  a  hurried  Confes- 
sion, and  a  little  more  than  a  formality  of  sorrow,  just  sufficient 
to  save  us  from  the  guilt  of  sacrilege,  we  are  content  to  let  bygones 
be  bygones.  Not  so  did  the  hermits  of  the  deserts  with  their  life- 
long penances ;  not  so  the  many  saints  who  imitated  the  royal  prophet 
in  that  their  sins  were  always  before  them ;  not  .so  St.  Peter,  who 
wept  all  his  days  for  that  momentary  denial  which  his  Master  had 
forgiven  and  forgotten. 

But  on  the  other  hand  we  must  take  account  of  that  extraordinary 
expression  of  Holy  Writ:  "Be  not  without  fear  about  sin  forgiven" 
(Eccl.  v,  5)  ;  and  we  must  be  cautious  in  attributing  to  the  Sac- 
rament of  Penance  more  than  it  actually  does  for  us.  Our  sins 
may  be  really  and  truly  forgiven,  and  yet  abide  in  many  of  their 
consequences.  The  temporal  punishment  remains  even  after  the 
guilt  is  entirely  removed  by  forgiveness.  God  in  His  mercy  takes 
away  all  that  directly  impedes  our  salvation;  but  as  to  the  other 


344  THE  CREED. 

effects  of  sin,  "Every  one  shall  bear  his  own  burthen"  (Gal.  vi,  5). 
The  most  dangerous  part  of  our  temporal  punishment  consists,  not  in 
physical  pains,  but  in  the  liability  to  relapse  into  the  same  sins,  or  to 
forfeit  grace  in  the  critical  moment  of  some  different  temptation. 
How  far  have  our  weak  attrition  and  incipient  love  of  God  gone 
toward  blotting  out  this  terrible,  unknown  liability?  All  they  have 
done  has  been  to  secure  the  remission  of  the  guilt;  the  evil  conse- 
quences abide  in  those  weak  points  of  our  defence,  which  are  only 
discovered  by  their  giving  way  in  the  moment  of  some  special  stress. 

Among  our  forgiven  sins  we  may  count  our  hidden  sins,  ab- 
solved with  those  confessed,  and  also  the  sins  of  others,  following 
remotely  from  our  acts  or  omissions,  and  not  directly  imputed  to 
us.  We  still  incur  for  them  an  additional  debt  of  temporal  punish- 
ment ;  a  debt  perhaps  greater  than  what  we  owe  for  our  own  trans- 
gressions ;  a  debt  perhaps  for  a  long  train  of  sins,  and  it  may  be  even 
for  the  loss  of  souls  that  will  forever  cry  out  for  vengeance  on  us. 

5.  Forgiveness  of  sin  in  the  sacred  tribunal  is  very  far  from  being 
all  we  need.  There  is  an  absolutely  necessary  grace  and  an  abso- 
lutely gratuitous  one,  quite  unconnected  with  the  absolutions  we 
have  received,  and  not  to  be  merited  by  any  deeds  of  ours.  It  is 
the  grace  of  final  perseverance.  For  this  we  need  to  be  always  work- 
ing and  praying.  But  what  have  we  been  doing?  Have  we  not  taken 
perseverance  for  granted,  trusted  it  to  take  care  of  itself,  supposed 
that  it  was  secured  sufficiently  by  our  ordinary  confessions  ?  This  is 
most  precarious ;  it  is  almost  suicidal.  Here  is  where  we  shall  fall  short 
at  the  last,  in  consequence  of  our  scamped  repentance,  our  shallow 
attrition  and  neglect  of  real  penance,  and  in  spite  of  so  much  good 
that  we  give  ourselves  credit  for.  Everything  goes  on,  apparently 
all  right,  till  we  come  to  the  critical  point.  Our  confessions  have  all 
been  valid ;  there  has  been  just  sufficient  to  make  them  so ;  our  com- 
munions never  sacrilegious,  and  moderately  devout ;  all  else  respect- 
able, some  things  even  admirable.  All  is  well  till  the  sudden  stress 
of  Satan's  last  assault.  Alas !  we  have  made  no  provision  for  any 
but  ordinary  risks ;  we  have  not  earned  by  prayer  the  singular  help 
that  is  needed  at  that  supreme  moment.  Grace  fails;  one  mortal 
sin ;  and  hell  forever ! 

In  what  has  been  said  may  perhaps  be  found  the  explanation  of 
those  terrible  failures  at  the  last  moment  that  we  sometimes  hear 
about.  There  was  the  miserable  apostacy  of  one  among  the  forty 
martyrs.  His  trial  was  almost  finished,  he  had  suffered  all  but  the 


THE  DANGER  OF  DAMNATION.  345 

last  pangs  of  death,  when  he  left  his  companions  in  the  freezing 
water,  offered  incense  to  the  idol,  plunged  into  the  warm  bath  by 
the  glowing  fire,  and  died  on  the  spot.  Again,  in  Japan,  two  of 
the  companions  of  Blessed  Spinota  had  endured  with  him  three 
years  of  horrible  imprisonment.  Condemned,  at  last,  to  death,  they 
endured  hours  of  slow  burning.  Almost  dead,  they  abjured  their 
faith,  and  were  withdrawn  from  the  torture.  But  the  magistrate 
thought  they  were  too  far  gone  to  be  worth  the  trouble  of  saving; 
he  had  them  cast  back  into  the  flames,  and  they  died  apostates  when 
they  might  have  gained  the  martyr's  crown.  There  had  been  doubt- 
less some  abuse  of  grace  in  the  forgotten  past,  some  sin,  a  forgiven 
sin  it  may  be,  whose  temporal  debt  remained  unexpiated,  and  thence 
some  weakness  or  deficiency  which  the  extraordinary  occasion  made 
fatal. 

If  such  failures  have  occurred  in  spite  of  all  the  graces  of  half  ac- 
complished martyrdom,  have  we  not  reason  to  fear  for  ourselves? 
Tepid  lives  may  at  times  lead  to  a  last  and  fatal  fall  during  the 
agonies  of  death,  in  spite  of  past  merits  and  all  the  graces  of  Extreme 
Unction  and  the  holy  Viaticum.  It  may  be  that  some  such  awful 
requital  for  sins  and  negligences  is  awaiting  us  in  the  distant  future, 
unless  we  avert  it  by  prayer  and  penance.  Hitherto  we  have  stored 
up  little  merit  for  the  evil  day,  but  we  have  made  abundant  pro- 
vision for  that  temporal  punishment,  which  will  cause  a  failure  of 
grace  and  perseverance  at  the  fatal  moment. 

6.  What  else  can  we  urge  in  order  to  excuse  ourselves  for  our 
tepidity  and  carelessness  in  working  out  our  salvation?  Shall  we 
say  that  we  are  passably  good  at  present,  leading  respectable  lives, 
committing  few  sins,  and  those  not  very  serious?  True:  but  this 
affords  no  presumption  against  a  fall.  How  many  have  begun  well, 
excessively  well  even,  and  yet  broken  down  lamentably  a  little  later 
in  their  journey.  The  lost  are  by  no  means  made  up  of  such  as  have 
been  always  plunged  in  wickedness.  Almost  all  have  known  days 
of  innocence,  and  have  given  good  promise  of  persevering  and  ending 
well. 

Neither  can  we  rely  on  the  many  wonderful  escapes  we  have  had, 
and  the  favors  which  God's  bounty  has  bestowed  on  us.  They  should 
rather  cause  us  to  fear  the  more;  for  our  abuse  of  grace  has  ex- 
ceeded our  correspondence  with  it,  and  it  may  be  that  we  are  but 
tiring  out  the  patience  of  God.  We  should  rather  think  of  the 
responsibilities  which  these  mercies  heap  upon  us.  They  are  a 


346 


THE  CREED. 


danger  as  well  as  a  favor.  "To  whom  they  have  committed  much, 
of  him  they  will  demand  the  more"  (Luke  xii,  48).  The  day  will 
perhaps  come  when  God  will  seek  the  fruit  of  these  graces  in  some 
heroic  act  of  self-sacrifice  which  we  have  not  prepared  ourselves  to 
render. 

Perhaps  we  can  say  that  we  have  served  God  according  to  our 
abilities  and  tried  to  do  such  good  as  came  in  our  way.  We  may 
be  conscious  of  having  actually  done  some  work  for  God's  glory. 
Surely  this  is  a  solid  ground  for  confidence.  The  divine  justice 
will  not  allow  us  to  go  without  our  reward.  But  can  any  one  say 
he  has  done  some  good  work  for  God  ?  Was  it  not  rather  that  God 
did  it  Himself  through  our  instrumentality,  as  He  could  have  done 
it  by  the  instrumentality  of  a  stick  or  a  stone?  If  He  has  used  us 
for  His  purposes,  is  it  not  reward  enough  for  us  that  we  have  had 
the  honor  and  happiness  of  doing  something  for  Him?  It  may  be 
that  God  can  say  of  our  good  works :  "Amen,  I  say  to  you,  they  have 
received  their  reward"  (Matt,  vi,  5).  We  may  have  taken  out  our 
reward  in  the  praise  of  men,  in  our  own  conceit,  or  in  good  things 
temporal  and  spiritual  already  received  from  God.  Whatever  the 
supernatural  merits  we  may  have  gained,  subsequent  sin  destroys 
them.  It  does  not  follow  that  we  go  unrewarded  because  we  lose  our 
souls.  Our  reward  would  then  take  the  form  of  a  mitigation  of 
our  punishment  in  hell.  But  we  can  not  flatter  ourselves  that  we  can 
have  any  claims  as  against  God.  We  belong  to  Him.  He  is  our 
absolute  Master  and  has  the  right  to  all  our  service  without  any 
additional  payment.  At  the  best  we  are  unprofitable  servants,  what 
we  have  done  is  only  what  we  already  owed  Him. 

7.  Nevertheless  we  can  not  but  feel  that  others  are  much  worse 
than  ourselves.  We  do  not  belong  to  the  ranks  of  those  profligates, 
whose  whole  lives  are  devoted  to  outraging  religion  and  morality, 
who  are  the  declared  enemies  of  God  and  man.  Our  destination  can- 
not be  the  same  as  theirs.  It  would  be  unjust  to  place  us  on  the 
same  level  with  them.  Hell  with  its  eternity  of  terrible  torments  is 
altogether  out  of  proportion  with  our  present  state,  tepid  though 
that  state  may  be.  Yet  it  is  no  presumption  in  favor  of  our  salvation 
that  we  are  not  as  worthy  of  hell  as  the  worst  sinner.  By  similar 
reasoning  we  should  be  unfit  for  heaven,  for  we  can  not  think  our- 
selves worthy  of  that  ineffable  glory  that  belongs  to  the  mother  of 
God,  the  seraphim,  and, the  highest  saints.  But  there  are  varieties 
of  reward  and  punishment  adapted  precisely  to  the  character  of 


THE  DANGER  OF  DAMNATION.  347 

each  individual;  for  each  one  is  himself  the  source  and  measure  of 
his  joy  or  suffering.  As  star  differeth  from  star  in  glory,  so  too  is 
there  the  widest  diversity  among  the  fallen  stars.  We  may  not  be 
very  bad;  but  there  is  place  in  hell  for  all  classes  of  criminals. 
Would  not  a  state  of  tempered  punishment  in  hell  be  more  accordant 
with  our  worthlessness,  than  any  participation,  however  limited,  in 
the  infinite  sanctity  and  glory  of  the  divinity  ? 

8.  But  at  least  can  we  not  cloak  our  deficiencies  under  the  good- 
ness of  God?  He  is  infinitely  tender  and  merciful.  Jesus  Christ 
shed  His  precious  blood  for  me,  and  His  satisfaction  can  supply  the 
shortcomings  of  the  whole  race  of  sinners.  The  deathbed  is  the 
special  theater  of  His  mercies ;  thousands  of  sinners  turning  then 
to  God  for  the  first  time,  have  been  snatched  out  of  the  very  jaws  of 
hell.  Every  word  of  this  is  true,  yet  there  is  another  aspect  which  we 
must  not  neglect  to  look  at.  Yes ;  God  is  good ;  He  wishes  our  sal- 
vation; He  has  done  much  toward  it,  and  will  yet  do  more.  Still, 
"He  who  created  thee  without  thy  assistance  will  not  save  thee  with- 
out thy  assistance"  (St.  Aug.).  Human  co-operation  is  as  necessary  to 
our  salvation  as  the  divine  action.  Where  is  our  co-operation  ?  How 
much  does  God  expect  of  us?  What  have  we  done?  Is  it  adequate 
to  God's  demand  ?  Are  we  not  leaving  all  to  God  without  doing  our 
share,  trusting  that  He  will  save  us  as  He  created  us,  equally 
"without  our  work"? 

We  must  also  remember  that  God  is  not  only  goodness ;  He  is  also 
law ;  and  law  in  all  its  manifestations  to  us  is  inexorable.  Law 
inflicts  full  vengeance  on  all  transgressors,  it  exacts  payment  to  the 
last  farthing.  By  exception,  God  overrides  the  natural  effects  of 
law  to  save  us  from  sin  through  Jesus  Christ.  But  what  if  we 
place  ourselves  by  disobedience  outside  the  operation  of  His  excep- 
tional mercy?  God  is  wonderful  in  His  mercy  to  sinners,  but  there 
is  the  dreadful  alternative  that  He  is  wonderful  in  the  severity  of 
His  judgments.  He  who  said  that  the  last  should  be  first  said  also 
that  the  first  should  become  the  last.  So  it  is  at  the  deathbed.  An 
apostle  and  a  robber  died  about  the  same  hour,  when  the  Redeemer 
was  crucified  for  their  salvation;  the  thief  entered  into  Paradise, 
the  apostle  was  lost  eternally.  So  judgment  and  mercy  are  mingled, 
and  we  do  not  know  which  we  shall  deserve.  If  graces  are  numer- 
ous to  the  hour  of  death,  so  are  the  perils.  There  is  room  for  special 
hopes  even  against  hope,  but  they  are  rather  for  those  who  have 
labored  under  special  disadvantages  of  ignorance,  weakness,  tempta- 


348  THE  CREED. 

tion,  inherited  proneness  to  sin.  The  special  provision  of  grace  is 
hardly  for  those  who  have  had  ordinary  provision  made  for  them  in 
superabundance  during  life,  and  have  neglected  to  turn  it  to  ac- 
count. 

9.  "And  they  that  heard  it  said:  Who  then  can  be  saved?  He 
said  to  them:  The  things  that  are  impossible  with  men  are  possible 
with  God"  (Luke  xviii,  26,  27).  When  we  recognize  the  difficulties 
of  salvation  and  our  own  incapacity,  when  we  are  filled  with  fear  and 
trembling,  and  are  moved  to  arise  from  our  sloth  and  excite  our- 
selves, then  our  salvation  is  nearer  to  us.  There  are  three  special 
things  to  be  attended  to  which  will,  more  than  anything  else,  help 
to  make  our  salvation  sure.  First,  St.  Paul  speaks  of  "filling  up 
those  things  that  are  wanting  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ,  in  my  flesh" 
(Colos.  i,  24).  We  require  to  practice  the  austerities  of  penance, 
mortification,  self-denial  in  all  its  forms.  St.  Augustine  tells  us  that 
no  one,  however  holy,  should  dare  to  present  himself  at  the  judg- 
ment seat  of  God  without  having  done  penance.  Secondly,  we  should 
do  abundant  works  of  charity,  and  especially  in  the  way  of  alms- 
giving. According  to  various  passages  of  Scripture,  this  has  a  won- 
derful efficacy  in  covering  a  multitude  of  sins,  in  delivering  from 
death,  and  causing  us  to  find  mercy;  while  on  the  other  hand  it  is 
"Judgment  without  mercy  to  him  who  hath  not  done  mercy"  (James 
ii,  10).  And  thirdly,  we  should  pray  incessantly  for  the  great  and 
unmerited  grace  of  final  perseverance ;  "for  the  continual  prayer  of 
the  just  man  availeth  much"  (James  v,  16).  In  all  this  we  should 
entertain  unlimited  distrust  in  ourselves,  and  unlimited  trust  in  the 
power  and  goodness  of  God.  We  shall  be  able  to  look  forward  with 
well-grounded  hopes  and  much  comfort  to  the  prospect  of  eternal 
life,  provided  that  we  work  earnestly  for  it,  and  do  that  work  with 
fear  and  trembling. 


PREDESTINATION  AND  REPROBATION.  349 


XLI.     PREDESTINATION  AND  REPROBATION. 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REV.   JAMES  BELLORD,  D.D. 
"Man  knoweth  not  whether  he  be  worthy  of  love  or  hatred." — Eccle.  ix,  1. 


SYNOPSIS. — 7.  While  we  concern  ourselves  with  things  of  earth,  God  holds 
the  secret  of  our  eternal  destiny.  This  knowledge  is  part  of  God's^ 
providence. 

II.  The  ways  of  God's  providence  are  not  and  can  not  be  within  the 
reach  of  the  human  mind.  Yet  God  cares  for  all  and  desires  all  to  be 
proved.  Scripture  proves  that  reprobation  is  man's  own  doing. 

HI.    The  conciliation  of  God's  knowledge  with  man's  freedom. 

IV.  Sinfulness  of  criticising  God's  inscrutable  providence.     History 
replete  with  proof  of  God's  love  of  and  mercy  for  the  sinner.     God  not 
bound  to  prevent  sin. 

V.  Uncertainly  of  predestination  wholesome  for  the  just  man  and 
likewise  for  the  sinner.    Fear  and  confidence  begotten  of  the  doctrine. 


I.  God  holds  in  His  hands  a  most  terrible  secret — the  secret  of 
our  eternal  destiny.  We  who  are  so  busily  occupied  here  with  our 
buying  and  selling,  our  amusements  and  our  petty  troubles,  have 
either  of  two  destinations  awaiting  us,  heaven  or  hell ;  eternal  peace 
and  overwhelming  delight  in  the  presence  of  God,  or  eternal  darkness 
and  misery  in  the  company  of  malicious  and  cruel  beings.  A  few 
years  more  and  every  one  of  us  will  have  passed  away.  Each  year 
will  carry  off  some  of  us;  fifty  years  hence  few  of  us  will  be  re- 
maining; a  hundred  years  and  not  one  will  be  alive.  Our  places 
will  be  filled  by  others ;  they  will  be  in  the  enjoyment  of  our  labors ; 
we  shall  have  no  concern  in  this  world  which  we  now  value  so 
much.  The  busy  hum  and  the  merry  laughter  of  life  will  go  on  as 
briskly  as  ever  without  us;  our  names  will  be  forgotten;  we  shall 
be  as  if  we  had  never  been.  Yet  we  shall  be  existent  and  conscious 
as  we  are  at  this  moment.  We  shall  have  entered  into  a  state  of 
life  which  will  continue  unchanged  forever  and  ever.  There  are 
only  two  kinds  of  life  hereafter ;  it  must  be  one  or  the  other ;  that 
is  absolutely  certain.  But  which  will  it  be  ?  That  is  absolutely  un- 
certain. That  is  the  great  secret  which  we  shall  never  know  in 


35o  THE    CREED. 

this  life.  Some  of  us  are  clearly  hastening  in  the  one  direction 
and  some  in  the  other ;  but  even  this  affords  no  more  than  a  slight 
presumption  as  to  our  future.  All  ma,  be  changed  before  the  mo- 
ment of  death ;  the  first  may  yet  become  the  last  and  the  last  first. 

The  brethren  of  Apostles  may  turn  traitors  and  be  rejected  while 
thieves  may  repent  and  enter  with  Our  Lord  into  Paradise.  When 
we  consider  the  promise  of  so  many  lives,  the  faith  that  is  in  them, 
and  their  persevering  regularity  in  God's  service,  when  we  reflect 
on  God's  patience  with  the  most  obstinate  sinners  and  His  abound- 
ing mercy,  we  have  good  reason  for  expecting  that  many  of  us  will 
be  saved.  Yet  out  of  so  many  it  is  to  be  feared  that  some  will  fail, 
and  that  in  one  or  five  or  fifty  years  they  will  be  commencing  their 
eternity  of  woe.  God  at  this  moment  sees  what  the  future  lot  of 
each  one  of  us  will  be.  Past  and  future  are  always  as  the  present 
to  Him,  and  He  sees  us  at  this  moment  in  our  final  abiding  place,  in 
glory  or  in  torment.  Some  of  us  are  at  this  moment  elect,  some  of 
us  are  reprobate ;  and  it  may  be  that  the  present  servant  of  God  is 
reprobate,  and  the  present  sinner  predestined  to  heaven.  What  sur- 
prise there  would  be,  what  terror,  what  despair,  if  the  picture  of  our 
future  destiny,  just  as  it  is  in  the  mind  of  God,  could  be  suddenly 
uncovered  to  our  sight! 

This  foreknowledge  of  God,  and  the  preparation  of  some  souls 
for  eternal  glory,  and  the  assent  to  the  further  loss  of  others,  is  part 
of  God's  Providence.  It  results  from  His  knowledge  of  all  future 
things,  from  His  goodness  and  His  justice.  This  Predestination 
and  Reprobation  do  not  mean  that  God  has  called  some  beings  into 
existence  for  the  special  purpose  of  separating  them  from  the  rest 
and  condemning  them  to  hell.  The  enemies  of  Christianity  have 
been  pleased  to  assert  that  this  is  a  Christian  doctrine.  But  it  is 
Christian  only  in  this  sense,  that  it  was  taught  during  a  couple  of 
centuries  by  the  members  of  a  small  and  now  almost  extinct  heresy, 
the  Calvinists,  who  called  themselves  Christians,  but  who  were  cut 
off  from  the  Christian  Church  on  account  of  this  with  other  errors. 
It  is  distinctly  a  Protestant  doctrine,  and  is  justly  condemned  by 
the  Catholic  Church  as  false  and  blasphemous.  Calvin's  teaching  is 
that  God  has  destined  by  an  irresistible  fiat  some  men  for  heaven 
and  others  for  hell.  It  is  unnecessary  to  point  out  how  wicked  this 
testimony  is  in  attributing  such  injustice  to  God  the  All-Holy;  nor 
how  immoral  its  tendency,  since  it  would  induce  men  to  abandon 
all  effort  and  lead  the  easiest  lives,  *.  e.,  lives  of  vice ;  seeing  that  their 


PREDESTINATION  AND  REPROBATION.  351 

actions  made  no  difference  to  their  friendship  with  God  or  to  their 
future  lot. 

II.  All  the  ways  of  God's  Providence  must  be  inscrutable  to  us. 
Little  children  can  not  judge  of  the  action  of  their  parents  toward 
them.  They  have  not  their  experience  of  the  world,  they  have  not 
foresight,  they  do  not  know  the  father's  plans  for  their  future 
benefit,  or  see  the  relation  between  present  arrangements  and  the 
long  distant  result  that  is  hoped  for.  Kindness  often  seems  unkind, 
and  restraint  or  punishment  to  be  wanton  cruelty.  We,  too,  can  not 
conceive  God's  aims  in  the  government  of  the  world,  nor  how  He 
means  to  compass  them,  nor  do  we  know  the  secrets  of  the  future. 
Especially  are  His  mysteries  of  Predestination  and  Reprobation  ob- 
scure ;  why  sin  is  permitted,  how  good  will  come  out  of  it,  why  evil 
designs  succeed,  why  some  are  chosen  and  some  rejected,  and  how 
these  results  are  brought  about  by  a  combination  of  man's  free  ac- 
tions and  God's  power  and  goodness. 

But  we  are  certain  of  some  guiding  truths.  God  has  created 
all  men  for  eternal  life.  He  loves  all,  He  gives  superabundant 
means  to  all.  "Christ  died  for  all"  (2  Cor.  v,  15).  If  some  have 
received  but  little  grace  it  is  in  proportion  with  what  is  expected 
of  them,  and  is  more  than  sufficient  for  their  needs  and  duties.  All 
are  destined  to  grace,  as  to  life,  without  respect  to  any  merits  or 
demerits.  Whatever  use  men  will  make  of  them,  all  receive  suffi- 
cient opportunities.  "God  our  Saviour,  .  .  .  will  have  all  men  to 
be  saved  and  to  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth"  (i  Tim.  i,  15). 
We  know  also  that  there  are  two  elements  in  Predestination,  God 
and  man.  On  God  all  depends;  for  man  can  not  merit  the 
supernatural;  temporal  rewards  are  all  that  he  can  earn  by  him- 
self. So  even  when  man  has  done  his  utmost,  the  call  to  eternal 
life  is  still  a  free  gift  of  God,  a  quite  gratuitous  predesti- 
nation. "By  grace  you  are  saved  through  faith,  and  that  not  of 
yourselves,  for  it  is  the  gift  of  God"  (Eph.  ii,  8),  "Not  by  the 
works  of  justice  which  we  have  done,  but  according  to  his  mercy 
he  saved  us"  (Tit.  ii,  5).  Yet  it  is  perfectly  true  at  the  same  time 
that  our  election  to  life  depends  on  our  own  will  and  our  exertions. 
"God  has  left  man  in  the  hand  of  his  own  counsel"  (Eccle.  xv,  14). 
Man's  work  is  as  nothing  before  God,  but  man's  work  is  essential 
for  His  salvation.  However  great  and  powerful  graces  may  be,  if 
man  refuses  to  co-operate,  they  are  made  null  and  void.  Heaven 
is  a  reward  as  well  as  a  free  gift;  it  must  be  struggled  for  and 


35a  THE   CREED. 

gained  by  warfare.  "He  that  striveth  for  the  mastery  is  not 
crowned  unless  he  strive  lawfully"  (2  Tim.  ii,  5). 

It  is  not  for  us  to  measure  these  two  forces  that  combine  to  cause 
predestination,  the  supreme  power  of  God  and  the  complete  free- 
dom of  man's  will,  we  do  not  know  how  far  man's  correspondence 
depends  on  God's  grace,  nor  how  far  God's  election  depends  on 
man's  work.  But  this  is  clear  to  God's  vision  from  all  eternity; 
"the  Lord  knoweth  who  are  his"  (2  Tim.  ii,  19)  ;  and  this  is  the 
basis  of  His  predestination.  In  the  depths  of  eternity  God  knew  of 
each  man,  his  strength  and  his  weakness,  his  excuses  and  his  guilt, 
his  sin  and  his  repentance.  He  could  sum  up  each  man's  life,  and 
see  his  final  decision  as  to  serving  or  resisting  God.  Knowing  thus 
His  own,  God  elects  them  to  eternal  happiness.  God  does  not  pre- 
destine all  men  to  glory  as  He  destines  them  for  life  and  grace; 
He  can  not  do  so,  for  they  control  their  destiny.  Although  predes- 
tination is  entirely  from  God,  it  is  yet  dependent  on  man's  own  will. 

Reprobation,  on  the  other  hand,  is  not  originally  from  God  but 
from  ourselves.  He  is  the  source  of  good  only  and  not  of  evil; 
least  of  all  is  He  the  author  of  the  supreme  evil.  "God  made  not 
death,  neither  hath  he  pleasure  in  the  destruction  of  the  living" 
(Wisd.  i,  13).  And  even  of  His  enemies  He  has  written:  "As  I 
live,  saith  the  Lord  God,  I  desire  not  the  death  of  the  wicked,  but 
that  the  wicked  turn  from  his  way  and  live"  (Ezech.  xxxiii,  ii). 
It  is  not  God  who  separates  the  sinner,  but  the  sinner's  own  action 
that  separates  him  from  God.  God  accepts  man's  perverse  decision 
at  the  last,  and  leaves  him  to  himself  and  his  sin.  It  is  with  every 
condemned  soul  as  with  the  chosen  people:  "Destruction  is  thine 
own,  O  Israel;  thy  help  is  only  in  me"  (Osee.  xii,  9).  The  decree 
of  reprobation  is  only  God's  foresight  of  this  rejection;  still  God 
does  not  therefore  cast  off  the  sinner  at  once,  but  while  he  lives  con- 
tinues to  bestow  on  him  the  most  abundant  marks  of  His  goodness, 
patience,  and  desire  for  his  salvation. 

III.  Another  mystery  in  this  matter  hard  to  understand  is,  how 
God  has  certain  knowledge  as  to  our  actions  and  destiny  and  yet 
we  retain  our  full  freedom  of  choosing  as  we  wish.  As  in  many 
other  cases,  both  facts  are  true,  although  we  may  be  incapable  of 
reconciling  one  with  the  other.  God's  knowledge  is  not  like  a  de- 
cree of  fate  fixing  a  man's  destiny ;  it  has  no  influx  upon  that  man's 
acts  as  the  cause  of  them.  God  knows  that  such  a  man  will  be 
saved  or  lost,  but  this  does  not  compel  him  to  be  saved  or  lost,  nor 


PREDESTINATION  AND  REPROBATION.  353 

does  it  make  his  efforts  ineffectual  for  either  end.  Our  fate  does 
not  depend  in  any  way  on  God's  knowledge  of  it ;  but  God's  knowl- 
edge of  it  before  our  creation  is  dependent  on  the  choice  we  shall 
subsequently  make.  The  man's  own  decision  compels  God's  knowl- 
edge to  take  such  a  particular  form.  Practically,  and  as  far  as  men 
are  concerned,  it  is  as  if  God  did  not  know  the  future,  for  we  are 
perfectly  free,  our  future  depends  on  ourselves,  and  remains  unde- 
termined till  our  death. 

Some,  no  doubt,  will  be  still  inclined  to  say,  God  sees  me  as 
saved  or  as  lost;  if  as  saved,  there  is  no  need  to  take  overmuch 
trouble  about  what  is  already  secured;  if  as  lost,  I  can  not  prevent 
it,  and  all  my  trouble  will  be  wasted.  A  farmer  might  just  as  well 
use  the  same  argument  about  the  tilling  of  his  fields.  The  harvest 
is  uncertain.  God  knows  whether  I  shall  get  one  this  year  or  not. 
If  He  has  decreed  that  I  am  to  have  a  good  crop,  what  need  have 
I  to  till  and  sow  my  fields ;  if  He  has  decreed  the  contrary,  all  my 
trouble  will  be  wasted,  so  I  may  as  well  save  it.  What  would  be 
the  consequences  of  such  argument?  It  is  probable  that  God  would 
have  foreseen  a  successful  harvest  as  the  result  of  proper  labor; 
but  the  man's  neglect  forces  God  in  any  case  to  foresee  that  he  will 
get  no  crop  because  he  has  not  worked  for  it.  Whatever  the  diffi- 
culties of  understanding  the  theory  of  predestination,  we  have,  as  to 
practice,  absolute  certainty  that  God  will  listen  to  fervent  and  per- 
severing prayer,  and  will  infallibly  grant  us  all  the  means  necessary 
for  our  salvation.  Grace  and  effort  are  required.  God's  grace  will 
never  be  wanting,  and  it  remains  therefore  that  salvation  depends 
on  our  sincerely  willing  it. 

St.  Ambrose  replies  to  a  similar  difficulty,  that  even  if  a  man 
knew  that  he  was  reprobate  from  God,  "the  Lord  will  know  how  to 
recall  the  sentence,  if  thou  knowest  how  to  amend  thy  ways  of  sin." 
In  confirmation  of  this  we  have  the  example  of  Jonas  and  Nineveh. 
The  decree  of  God  had  gone  forth  against  the  great  city;  yet 
forty  days  and  it  was  to  be  destroyed.  But  all  the  people  did  pen- 
ance for  their  sins,  and  besought  the  face  of  the  Lord,  and  their 
punishment,  though  foretold  by  God,  was  averted.  The  prophet 
Ezechiel  had  already  said  the  same  thing:  "Yea,  if  I  shall  say  to 
the  just  man  that  he  shall  surely  live,  and  he,  trusting  in  his  justice, 
commit  iniquity:  all  his  justices  shall  be  forgotten,  and  in  his  in- 
iquity which  he  hath  committed,  in  the  same  shall  he  die.  And 
if  I  shall  say  to  the  wicked  man,  Thou  shalt  surely  die,  and  he  do 


3 54  THE   CREED. 

penance  for  his  sin  and  do  judgment  and  justice,  and  if  that 
wicked  man  restore  the  pledge,  and  render  what  he  hath  robbed,  and 
walk  in  the  commandments  and  life,  and  do  no  unjust  thing,  he 
shall  surely  live  and  shall  not  die.  None  of  his  sins  which  he  hath 
committed  shall  be  imputed  to  him;  he  hath  done  judgment  and 
justice,  and  he  shall  surely  live"  (Ezech.  xxxiii,  13-16). 

Such  are  the  dispositions  of  God  toward  the  most  obstinate  sin- 
ner ;  the  way  of  repentance  is  always  open,  the  arms  of  God's  mercy 
are  always  extended  toward  him.  His  knowledge  of  the  future 
reprobation  of  sinners  is  not  of  the  nature  of  a  decree.  His  knowl- 
edge before  the  event  no  more  restrains  a  man's  liberty  of  action 
than  our  knowledge  of  the  same  after  the  event  affects  it. 

In  considering  a  subject  of  this  kind  our  ideas  can  not  range  up 
to  the  divine  facts,  nor  human  language  express  them.  The  modes 
of  God's  existence  differ  essentially  from  ours,  and  are  not  simply 
our  modes  of  existence  on  a  magnified  scale.  We,  for  instance,  can 
conceive  of  no  being  but  what  is  limited  like  ourselves  to  time  and 
space  extended  beyond  conceivable  limits,  but  they  are  the  negation 
of  time  and  space.  When  we  attempt  to  speak  of  God's  mysterious 
Being  with  precision,  using  words  and  ideas  that  have  no  cor- 
respondence with  His  state  of  being,  we  fall  necessarily  into  forms 
of  speech  that  are  self-contradictory  and  unintelligible. 

The  same  in  speaking  of  God's  foreknowledge.  He  is  not  like  a 
man  who  knows  for  certain  beforehand  what  is  to  take  place  in 
the  future.  In  our  case  that  would  simply  imply  that  the  future 
event  was  fixed  and  unchangeable.  But  with  God  there  is  no  "be- 
forehand," no  future.  He  is  in  eternity,  where  there  is  no  succes- 
sion of  past  and  to  come.  All  is  present — actually  present  before 
Him  from  all  eternity  to  all  eternity.  Our  existence,  our  lives, 
our  future  destiny,  and  God's  knowledge  of  them,  are  always  simul- 
taneously present  to  Him.  It  would  be  a  more  accurate  repre- 
sentation to  ourselves  of  God's  foreknowledge,  to  compare  it  to  a 
man's  knowledge  of  an  event  happening  before  his  eyes,  rather  than 
to  his  knowledge  of  the  same  event  one  day  or  one  million  centurie? 
beforehand. 

IV.  We  shall  fall  into  error,  and  into  blasphemous  error,  if  we 
attempt  to  criticize  the  ways  of  Divine  Providence,  as  if  we  had 
full  knowledge  of  all  the  conditions.  If  evil  suggestions  should 
arise  questioning  the  mercy  of  God  in  allowing  sinners  to  be  born 
into  life,  who  will  be  damned,  and  if  we  should  be  unable  to 


PREDESTINATION  AND  REPROBATION.  355 

refute  them  by  a  direct,  and,  as  it  were,  mathematical  answer, 
we  have  still  other  sources  of  knowledge  which  answer  the  diffi- 
culties indirectly,  by  proving  the  existence  and  the  action  of  that 
mercy  which  is  called  in  question. 

Every  page  of  sacred  history,  every  year  of  our  own  experience, 
witnesses  to  the  long  endurance  of  God  with  sinners.  His  prodi- 
gality of  graces  toward  them,  His  generous  forgiveness  of  life-long 
outrages  in  return  for  one  moment  of  penitent  love.  They  are  the 
special  objects  of  His  predilection.  He  has  done  more  for  them 
than  He  would  do  for  the  just;  for  He  tells  us  that  He  came  not  to 
call  the  just  but  sinners,  and  that  the  joy  in  heaven  over  the  one 
sinner  is  greater  than  over  ninety-nine  just  who  have  not  sinned 
so  as  to  need  repentance.  What  mind  but  a  perverted  one  could  see 
harshness  in  this  action  of  God?  For  the  very  reason  that  the  sin- 
ner has  offended  God,  God  has  loaded  him  with  blessings,  for  the 
very  reason  that  he  is  undeserving  God  is  more  anxious  to  give  him 
eternal  life.  Many  of  the  offender's  best  gifts  have  been  bestowed 
on  him  without  any  trouble  or  desert ;  and  if  the  final  gift  of  heaven 
is  not  given  to  him,  whom  else  can  he  blame  but  himself  ?  God  has 
almost  forced  it  upon  him.  The  sinner  knows  of  the  offer;  he  is 
never  allowed  to  forget  it;  it  is  offered  to  him  continually  on  the 
easiest  of  terms ;  he  has  the  means  of  obtaining  it ;  but  he  will  not 
stretch  out  his  hand  for  it,  he  does  not  want  it,  he  deliberately  re- 
jects it.  He  refuses  the  most  wonderful  and  undeserved  mercies ; 
can  he  complain,  on  account  of  his  rejecting  them,  that  therefore 
God  is  not  merciful? 

Should  God  prevent  all  sin?  Should  He  force  the  sinner's  will 
and  compel  him  to  love  truth  and  goodness?  It  is  a  contradiction 
in  terms — a  forced  and  unwilling  love !  It  is  no  favor  to  man  to 
force  upon  him  that  which  is  best  for  him  but  which  he  abhors. 
The  sinner  in  hell  will  certainly  never  reproach  God  for  this;  for 
does  not  every  sinner  pride  himself  especially  on  his  independence, 
and  resist  what  he  calls  an  encroachment  upon  it,  even  though  it  be 
to  save  him  from  eternal  woe  ? 

Nor  can  it  be  claimed  that  God  should  interfere  with  the  laws  of 
Nature,  and  work  innumerable  other  miracles,  in  order  to  keep  out  of 
existence  a  certain  number  who  will  not  be  content  to  profit  by  the 
miracles  of  grace  which  God  has  provided  for  them.  To  have  sup- 
pressed the  existence  of  all  new  lost  souls  would  have  involved  the 
suppression  of  millions  more,  their  descendants,  who  have  served 


356  THE  CREED. 

God  faithfully,  given  Him  glory,  and  attained  to  infinite  bliss.  What 
claim  have  sinners  that  all  this  overwhelming  glory  and  happiness 
should  be  sacrificed  because  they  will  prove  unwilling  to  share  in  it  ? 

Finally,  we  may  answer  in  the  words  of  the  prophet  to  those  who 
blaspheme  against  the  justice  and  the  mercifulness  of  Divine  Provi- 
dence :  "And  you  have  said,  the  way  of  the  Lord  is  not  right.  Hear 
ye,  therefore,  O  house  of  Israel :  Is  it  my  way  that  is  not  right,  and 
are  not  rather  your  ways  perverse?"  (Ezech.  xviii,  25.) 

V.  Uncertainty  as  to  our  predestination  is  a  source  of  anxiety 
to  some  and  of  negligence  to  others ;  and  we  would  often  desire  one 
glimpse  into  the  secret  of  God's  knowledge.  The  secrecy  is 
wholesome.  If  a  just  man's  predestination  were  made  known 
to  him,  it  would  lead  him  in  some  cases  to  presume  upon  it,  to  indulge 
in  undue  confidence  and  to  fall  by  pride.  If  the  sinner's  reproba- 
tion were  made  known  to  him,  it  would  take  away  from  him  the 
possibility  of  salvation  that  would  else  remain  open  to  him. 

The  fact  of  not  knowing  whether  we  be  worthy  of  love  or  hatred 
is  intended  by  God  as  a  stimulus  to  our  exertions.  How  holy  soever 
we  be,  we  have  never  in  this  life  attained  the  goal ;  it  is  always  pos- 
sible that  we  may  fail  and  become  castaways.  We  can  never  dare, 
then,  to  rest  and  take  things  easily,  we  can  never  take  pride  in  our 
progress.  We  must  always  fear  for  ourselves  and  struggle  on- 
ward. The  same  fact  also  gives  us  encouragement  where  it  is  most 
needed.  It  enables  us  always  to  be  hopeful  of  even  the  greatest  sin- 
ners, and  to  see  in  them  the  materials  of  new  Augustines,  Pauls, 
Mary  Magdalenes.  It  helps  them  to  put  their  old  life  behind  them 
and  to  walk  confidently  in  the  new  paths  of  the  grace  of  God;  and 
it  inspires  the  zeal  of  those  who  labor  for  their  conversion.  The 
doctrine  of  predestination,  then,  moves  us  both  to  fear  and  confi- 
dence, to  the  fear  of  ourselves  and  of  our  weakness,  and  to  that  fear 
of  God  which  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom;  it  gives  us  confidence 
also  "of  this  very  thing  that  he  who  hath  begun  a  good  work  in 
you  will  perfect  it  unto  the  day  of  Christ  Jesus"  (Phil,  i,  6). 


DOES  CHURCH  TEACH  END  JUSTIFIES  MEANS?          357 


XLII.    DOES  THE  CHURCH  TEACH  THE  END  JUSTIFIES 

THE  MEANS? 

BY  THE  REV.    P.   A.    HALFIN. 

SYNOPSIS. — Introductory  remarks  on  the  attacks  made  against  the  Church 
and  the  need  of  every  Catholic  being  instructed.  Summary  of  evil  con- 
sequences following  the  principle  that  the  end  justifies  the  means.  Such 
doctrine  was  never  taught  by  the  Jesuits.  Meaning  of  the  doctrine.  The 
Church  teaches  that  the  end  can  not  justify  means  which  are  intrinsically 
wrong.  Her  history  and  her  holiness  prove  this.  No  holiness  so  ideal  as 
that  inspired  by  the  Church. 

The  Church  reproduces  the  life  of  Christ  as  she  runs  her  militant 
career  and  undergoes  the  same  humiliations,  the  same  persecutions, 
the  same  opposition,  the  same  defeats,  and,  glory  be  to  God  for  His 
infinite  mercies,  the  same  triumphs.  Like  Christ,  she  is  human  and 
she  is  divine.  Her  divinity  protects  her  against  all  error  and  all 
failure  and  all  destruction.  She  is  human  on  the  side  of  the  mem- 
bers who  compose  her  organization.  These  children  of  hers  have  all 
the  failings  and  all  the  possibilities  of  their  human  nature.  In  re- 
sponse to  what  may  be  alleged  against  Catholics  as  individuals,  we 
have  nothing  to  say.  Let  them  answer  for  themselves.  If  they  are 
accused  wrongfully  it  is  theirs  to  repel  the  attack.  If  they  are  per- 
secuted, upon  them  lies  the  obligation  to  bear  up  with  resignation, 
and,  if  possible,  with  gladness. 

It  is  an  altogether  different  matter,  though,  when  an  assault 
is  made  upon  the  Church.  Then  it  becomes  the  duty  of  every  Cath- 
olic, who  can,  to  vindicate  her  from  the  insinuations  of  her  enemies. 
Luckily  the  fight  nowadays  is  in  the  open.  She  has  very  few  covert 
foes.  A  whole  army  of  invaders  is  arrayed  against  her  and  we  know 
that  they  are  bold  to  the  extremity  of  openly  hurling  the  "fiery  darts 
of  the  evil  one."  They  have  attacked  her  with  every  possible,  every 
conceivable  weapon.  Their  modes  of  waging  their  warfare  are  nu- 
merous beyond  all  calculation.  She  has  been,  all  through  the  lapse 
of  nearly  two  thousand  years,  the  victim  of  misrepresentation.  Her 
origin,  her  mission,  her  motives,  her  projects,  her  conduct,  her  doc- 
trines, have  all  been  misrepresented.  They  have  lied  about  her 
Founder.  They  have  blackened  her  aims.  They  have  falsified  her 


THE   CREED. 

intentions.  They  have  execrated  her  aspirations.  They  have  ac- 
cused her  of  arrogant  ambition.  Above  all,  they  have  turned  all 
her  teachings  into  a  system  of  immoral  education.  In  their  eyes, 
and  fain  would  they  so  paint  her  to  the  eyes  of  the  world,  she  has 
been  an  agency  of  evil  principles  with  which  she  imbued  the  minds 
of  her  children,  so  that  to  be  a  Catholic  and  pure,  to  be  a  Catholic 
and  honest,  to  be  a  Catholic  and  trustworthy,  to  be  a  Catholic  and 
patriotic,  to  be  a  Catholic  and  just,  to  be  a  Catholic  and  law-abiding, 
to  be  a  Catholic  and  truthful,  to  be  a  Catholic  and  moral,  is  simply 
an  impossibility.  If  there  be  anywhere  the  whole  universe  over  an 
upright  Catholic  it  is  due,  not  to  the  maxims  which  she  inculcates, 
but  in  spite  of  her  doctrines,  which  have  no  other  issue  possible  save 
that  of  corrupting  hearts,  darkening  minds  and  paving  the  way  to 
crimes  gross,  enormous,  disastrous  to  the  individual,  to  the  fam- 
ily and  to  the  State. 

There  are  many  miracles  which  go  to  prove  the  divinity  of  the 
Church,  and  among  them  not  the  least  compelling  is  her  survival  of 
the  wild  storms  of  calumny  with  which  she  has  been  assailed  and 
through  which  she  is  up  to  this  very  date  victoriously  passing. 

It  would  not  be  difficult  to  point  out  the  reasons  of  this  most  un- 
just attitude  of  so  many  toward  the  Church.  In  many  cases  it  is 
prejudice,  in  many  cases,  too,  it  is  unadulterated  enmity  springing 
from  a  hatred  which  can  be  accounted  for  only  on  the  score  of  an 
unwillingness  to  recognize  anything  good  in  an  institution  which 
maintains  always  and  at  all  costs  what  is  good  and  right,  an  institu- 
tion which  is  ever  the  first  to  detect  tendencies  that  make  for  obliga- 
tion and  duty,  which  is  ever  the  first  to  sound  the  alarm  when  there  is 
danger  of  ruin  to  home  and  country. 

The  Church  has  been,  since  the  beginning,  the  bulwark  which 
has  protected  all  other  institutions  which  involve,  in  their 
safety  or  in  their  downfall,  the  safety  and  downfall  of  what 
is  most  sacred  in  the  interests  of  the  race.  It  has  stood  between 
society  and  the  evil  designs  of  bad  men.  It  has  made  no  difference 
whether  these  assailants  of  the  temporal  and  eternal  welfare  have 
been  of  the  proletariate  or  high  placed.  Hence  it  is  that  "the  Gen- 
tiles raged  and  the  people  devised  vain  things,  the  kings  of  the  earth 
stood  up  and  the  princes  met  together  against  the  Lord  and  against 
his  Christ"  (Ps.  ii).  They  have  not  been  able  to  avail  themselves, 
these  foes  of  the  Church,  of  any  other  weapon  save  those  of  lies, 
of  calumnies,  of  misrepresentations.  It  strikes  one,  right  here,  how 


DOES  CHURCH  TEACH  END  JUSTIFIES  MEANS?          359 

necessary  it  is  for  the  Catholic  to  know  his  religion  and  its  tenets. 
Would  that  every  member  of  the  Church  understood  his  duty  in 
this  regard,  and  understanding  fulfilled  it!  A  great  deal  of  un- 
necessary and  unintentional  harm  is  done  to  what  might  be  called 
the  fair  fame,  or,  better,  the  reputation  of  the  Church  by  Catholics 
who  admit  through  ignorance  many  views  which  she  not  only  does 
not  hold,  but  which  she  repudiates  and  condemns.  Such  a  condition 
of  affairs  would  not  exist  were  Catholics,  even  of  education,  even  of 
higher  education,  only  ordinarily  familiar  with  her  doctrines  or  but 
ordinarily  familiar  with  her  history.  This  very  easily  acquired 
knowledge,  always  necessary,  is  more  so  now,  when  knowledge  is  a 
commodity  as  cheap  as  it  is  an  indispensable  passport  in  almost  all 
grades  of  society.  What  was  considered  as  needful  in  the  time  of 
the  Council  of  Trent  is  more  urgently  demanded  now. 

But  how  can  the  faithful  know  if  they  are  not  taught,  and  how 
can  they  hear  if  they  do  not  assist  at  the  instructions  which  every- 
where at  the  present  time  are  furnished  by  their  pastors.  If  ever 
there  was  an  era  of  pulpit  enlightenment  that  era  is  the  one  we  are 
living  in.  To  meet  the  mischievous  activity  of  irreligious  men  and  to 
rear  the  edifice  of  Christian  knowledge  on  its  only  secure  and  solid 
basis,  the  instruction  of  its  authorized  teachers,  to  afford  the  faithful 
a  fixed  standard  of  Christian  belief,  to  supply  a  pure  and  perennial 
fountain  of  living  waters,  to  refresh  and  to  invigorate  the  minds  of 
the  hearers,  seems  in  these  years  to  be  universally  the  aim  of  the 
pastors  of  our  Churches. 

It  so  happens,  then,  that  the  Catholic  who  is  in  the  dark  re- 
garding his  religion  has  only  his  own  indolence  to  blame.  A 
knowledge  of  one's  Catechism  would  be  of  incalculable  benefit 
and  would  make  of  each  member  of  the  Church  a  stout  and 
able  defender  of  the  Mother  to  whom  he  owes  so  much.  "In  its 
pages  he  will  discover  a  rich  treasure  of  theological  knowledge  ad- 
mirably adapted  to  purposes  of  practical  utility.  The  entire  econ- 
omy of  religion  he  will  there  find  developed  to  his  view — the 
majesty  of  God,  the  nature  of  divine  essence — the  attributes  of  the 
Deity  and  the  transcendent  operations  thereof — the  creation,  the  un- 
happy fall  of  man,  the  mysterious  and  merciful  plan  of  redemption, 
the  establishment  of  the  Church,  the  marks  by  which  the  Church  is  to 
be  known  and  distinguished,  the  awful  sanction  with  which  the  Divine 
Law  is  fenced  around — the  nature,  number  and  necessity  of  those 
supernatural  aids  instituted  by  the  Divine  goodness  to  support  our 


360 


THE   CREED. 


weakness  in  the  arduous  conflict  for  salvation — finally,  the  nature, 
necessity  and  conditions  of  that  heavenly  intercourse  that  should 
subsist  between  the  soul  and  its  Creator."  (See  Translator's  Preface 
to  "Catechism  of  the  Council  of  Trent.")  Doubtless  within  these 
pages  the  attentive  reader  will  find  wherewithal  to  meet  the  objec- 
tions brought  against  his  faith,  to  know  a  calumny  when  it  is  ut- 
tered, to  be  able  to  repel  a  false  insinuation  instead  of  being  forced 
through  ignorance  to  hang  the  head  which  in  so  many  cases  is  an 
admission  that  the  Church  is  an  absurd  and  lying  teacher. 

The  foregoing  has  been  advanced  as  a  useful  introduction  to  the 
topic  which  is  to  form  the  subject  of  this  instruction.  Probably  the 
most  widespread  and  virulent  imputation  against  the  teaching  of  the 
Church  is  found  in  the  accusation  that  she  encourages  the  doctrine 
that  "the  end  justifies  the  means."  Such  a  teaching  would  be  sub- 
versive of  all  morality.  It  would  be  an  incentive  to  every  species  of 
crime.  It  would  endanger  civilization  in  an  extreme  degree.  It 
would  be  an  invasion  of  the  most  sacred  rights  whether  of  the  in- 
dividual or  of  society.  It  would  blast  every  enterprise.  It  would 
fill  the  world  with  monsters  and  monstrosities.  So  far-reaching 
would  its  consequences  be  that  no  one  would  be  safe  against  it.  It 
strikes  at  the  heart  of  all  righteousness.  At  its  breath  every  flower 
of  virtue  would  fade.  Principle  would  not  find  a  footing  anywhere 
among  men. 

Many  crimes  have  been  committed  in  the  name  of  liberty,  but 
they  are  almost  virtues  when  compared  with  the  atrocities 
which  would  be  held  in  honor  were  the  baneful  doctrine  that  the 
end  justifies  the  means  taught  by  the  professors  of  Theology  of 
a  Church  which  counts  more  members  within  her  fold  than  two 
hundred  and  fifty  millions. 

Picture  to  yourselves  such  a  vast  activity  inspired  by  the  in- 
fernal maxim  which  we  are  here  considering!  What  would  be- 
come of  humanity!  Even  the  Divine  Mercy  would  grow  weary, 
and  again  it  would  repent  God  that  He  made  man,  and  in  some 
more  terrible  way  than  at  the  time  of  the  deluge  would  He  sweep 
His  handiwork  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth. 

To  understand  that  there  is  not  the  slightest  exaggeration  in  all 
this,  endeavor  to  grasp  the  significance  of  the  execrable  teaching. 
The  meaning  of  the  doctrine  is  that  every  one  is  permitted  the  per- 
formance of  any  action  provided  he  has  in  view  the  reaching  of  a 
good  end.  Let  the  end  be  good  and  everything — everything — or 


DOES  CHURCH  TEACH  END  JUSTIFIES  MEANS?          361 

rather  anything  done  with  that  end  in  view  is  good.  It  may  be  im- 
possible for  a  man  to  achieve  his  purpose,  which  is  supposedly  a  le- 
gitimate one,  without  committing  murder,  then  is  it  lawful  to  commit 
murder;  without  infanticide,  then  infanticide  is  lawful;  without 
adultery,  then  adultery  becomes  lawful ;  without  impurity  or  obscen- 
ity, then  impurity  and  obscenity  become  lawful ;  without  stealing,  then 
stealing  becomes  lawful ;  without  treason,  then  treason  becomes  law- 
ful; without  lying,  and  calumny  and  detraction,  then  lying  and  ca- 
lumny and  detraction  become  lawful.  This  statement  is  a  broad  one, 
it  covers  large  spaces,  but  it  is  not  broader  nor  does  it  cover  larger 
spaces  than  the  truth.  Not  only  under  the  condition  of  the  doctrine 
do  these  crimes  fall  within  the  law,  but  they  are  virtuous,  not  only 
are  they  virtuous  but  they  become  part  of  the  whole  duty  of  man,  and 
circumstances  arise  when  the  man  who  fails  to  employ  these  means 
to  the  end  before  him  becomes  a  criminal  because  he  is  faithless 
to  the  obligation  with  which  the  execrable  principle  burdens  his 
conscience. 

This  is  not  only  what  is  involved  in  the  pernicious  tenet  under 
consideration,  but  it  is  the  sense  in  which  it  is  explained  by  the 
enemies  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  it  is  also  the  sense  in  which 
they  put  it  forth  when  they  endeavor  so  frantically  to  include  it  in 
the  doctrines  propounded  and  propagated  by  our  holy  Religion. 

The  shocking  formula  condensed  amounts  to  this.  Have  an 
upright,  noble  end  in  view,  and  think  and  speak  and  devise  and 
do  as  you  please,  recking  nothing  of  human  life,  human  rights, 
human  decency;  recking  nothing  of  virtue,  recking  nothing  of 
God  or  of  His  laws.  That  the  Church  teaches  this  abomination 
to  her  children,  that  she  has  encouraged  them,  nay,  commanded 
them  to  follow  it  as  their  guide  in  all  their  deliberate  dealings  with 
mankind,  has  been  declared  by  word  of  mouth  in  pulpit  and  lecture 
hall,  has  been  handed  down  from  age  to  age  in  the  pages  of  history 
so  many  writers  of  which  have  entered  into  a  confederacy  to  speak 
never  a  word  of  truth  concerning  the  transcendent  beauty  and  un- 
imagined  holiness  of  the  Faith  which  is  ours.  It  would  seem  un- 
necessary to  utter  anything  in  reply  to  this  sweeping  libel  of  the 
centuries.  One  body  of  teachers  have  in  the  most  malicious  fashion 
been  bespattered  by  the  mire  of  this  iniquitous  aspersion.  They  are 
that  loyal  body  of  tireless  champions  of  the  purity  and  integrity  of 
Catholic  dictrine,  they  are  the  devoted,  learned  and  fearless  follow- 
ers of  Loyola. 


362 


THE   CREED. 


That  they,  above  all  men,  should  be  accused  of  teaching  the 
doctrine  of  the  justification  of  the  means  by  the  end  is  a  never- 
ceasing  wonder.  Still  the  accusation  is  repeated  month  after 
month,  year  after  year.  In  vain  have  they  protested.  They  have 
challenged  their  adversaries  to  show  in  any  book  published  by  any 
of  their  society,  and  with  the  approval  of  superiors,  this  maxim 
advocated.  Rewards  of  no  small  sums  of  money  have  been  offered 
by  their  friends  to  any  one  who  could  bring  home  any  writing  of 
theirs  favoring  the  declaration  of  their  enemies  that  among  their 
data  of  ethics  was  one  admitting  that  evil  could  be  done  so  that 
good  might  come  from  it.  No  one  has  advanced  any  proof,  and  to 
no  one  has  the  prize  yet  been  given.  As  it  was  in  the  past  so  it  is 
now,  and  so  it  will  be  unto  the  end.  Let  us  even  suppose  that  such 
were  the  teaching  of  the  Jesuits  individually  or  collectively,  the  dis- 
grace therefrom  could  not  attach  to  the  Church,  for  no  religious 
association  is  the  Church.  What  is  the  teaching  of  the  Church  on 
this  point?  It  is  just  the  reverse  of  what  her  foes  allege.  If  she 
has  any  clear  utterance  on  the  matter,  it  is  that  the  end  can  not 
justify  the  means,  it  is  that  what  is  evil,  which  is  intrinsically 
wrong,  can  not  be  made  good  or  right  by  any  advantage,  no  matter 
how  great,  whether  in  the  temporal  or  in  the  spiritual  order,  which 
might  result  therefrom.  If  the  truth  were  told,  it  would  be  the 
startling  revelation  that  one  reason  among  others  why  the  Church 
finds  herself  opposed  by  such  a  host  of  bitter  foes  in  this  and  other 
directions  is  because  they  have  found  themselves  balked  in  their 
machinations  by  the  determined  stand  which  she  takes  anent  this 
very  matter  under  dispute. 

Professional  men  would  like  to  work  as  they  please  on  the 
minds  of  their  clients  or  their  patients,  but  meet  with  heroic  re- 
sistance that,  instead  of  compelling  admiration  frenzies  them  with 
anger  and  hatred.  Do  you  wish  to  learn  the  true  history  of  the 
pernicious  theory?  Look  not  into  the  records  of  the  Catholic 
Church,  but  into  the  record  of  paganism,  heresy  and  infidelity.  From 
the  first  days  of  Christianity,  the  story  is  one  of  Catholics  facing 
poverty,  persecution,  death  rather  than  have  recourse  to  the  vile 
evasions  suggested  by  their  oppressors.  The  holiness  of  the  Church 
which  began  with  Christ,  and  which  continues  until  the  present  day, 
is  a  brilliant  refutation  of  the  claim  that  our  Faith  in  any  way  ex- 
pounds and  encourages  such  a  degradation  of  private  or  public 
morality.  Her  teaching  since  the  beginning  has  ever  been  the  same 


DOES  CHURCH  TEACH  END  JUSTIFIES  MEANS f         363 

sane  teaching,  a  teaching  which  is  based  on  immutable  principles. 
The  end  justifies  the  means?  Evil  can  be  turned  into  good?  Never 
has  such  a  view  directly  or  indirectly  polluted  her  sacred  lips.  Will 
she  allow  a  man  to  lie  to  save  a  life,  save  a  soul  ?  Never !  The  lie 
will  always  be  a  lie,  no  matter  how  prolific  it  may  be  in  good  re- 
sults. The  same  is  true  of  all  that  is  morally  evil.  The  Church 
considers  the  deliberate  act  in  its  integrity.  She  considers  the  in- 
tention, the  means.  The  slightest  flaw,  whether  in  the  means  or 
the  intent,  vitiates  in  proportion  the  whole  act.  She  condemns  any 
act  which  by  its  nature,  or  by  anything  in  its  production,  or  by  any- 
thing in  the  intention  of  the  one  who  performs  it,  is  not  in  accordance 
with  what  is  right.  If  the  end  in  view  is  bad,  the  act  is  bad ;  if  any  of 
the  means  employed  be  immoral  the  act  is  immoral,  if  the  end  in  view 
is  bad  again  is  the  act  reprobated,  and  the  agent  falls  under  the  cen- 
sure of  his  religion.  In  a  word,  whether  what  is  said,  spoken  or  done 
is  in  itself  unjustifiable,  no  matter  how  successful  a  means  it  may  be, 
toward  no  matter  how  worthy,  noble  or  exalted  an  end,  the  whole 
act  is  repudiated. 

It  is  only  natural  to  ask  whether,  such  being  the  position 
of  the  Church,  any  loophole  of  evasion  exists.  The  Church 
does  not  look  at  the  means  only  or  at  the  end  alone,  but  she  regards 
the  totality  of  the  act  and  she  pronounces  it  perfect  or  not,  good  or 
bad,  right  or  wrong,  moral  or  immoral,  justifiable  or  not,  solely 
when  the  complexity  of  the  performance  presents  to  her  very  search- 
ing scrutiny  a  whole  without  blemish  in  every  one  of  its  essential 
and  component  parts.  The  Church  of  God  is  the  mother  of  Saints 
and  the  preceptress  of  holiness.  All  of  her  maxims  will  bear  the 
closest  investigation.  There  is  not  one  of  them  which  does  not  make 
for  supreme  sanctity.  There  are  no  acts  so  beautiful  as  those  she 
commands  and  inspires.  Her  influence  reaches  to  the  very  thought. 
She  demands  purity — but  what  white  purity !  She  feeds  among  the 
lilies  and  her  jewels  are  her  virgins  in  and  out  of  the  cloister,  for 
they  are  everywhere.  But  she  calls  for  virginity  of  thought  and  vir- 
ginity of  word  as  well  as  for  virginity  of  action.  There  was  never 
conceived  such  an  ideal  of  sanctity  as  that  proposed  by  the  Church. 
Her  voice  has  been  heard  deep  down  in  hearts,  and  the  response  has 
been  a  universal  and  a  constant  one.  There  are  still  Agneses  and 
Johns  in  the  Church,  and  there  will  be  until  the  end.  So  much  force 
for  one  species  of  holiness  which  is  not  understood  by  the  men  and 
the  women  whose  motto  it  is  to  eat  and  to  drink  and  to  be  merry. 


364  THE   CREED. 

But  there  is  holiness  for  every  condition  in  life.  There  is  the  holi- 
ness of  love  and  honor  and  also  devotion  of  children  for  parents. 
There  is  the  holiness  of  conjugal  fidelity.  There  is  the  holiness  of 
the  poor,  sanctifying  by  resignation  the  hardship  of  existence.  There 
is  the  holiness  of  the  rich  who  are  poor  in  spirit.  There  is  the  holi- 
ness of  the  servant  and  the  laborer  true  and  faithful  in  all  the  cir- 
cumstances of  their  state  of  life ;  there  is  the  holiness  of  the  master 
and  the  employer  who  forget  not  gentleness  and  that  the  defraud- 
ing of  wages  is  a  crime  crying  out  for  vengeance.  There  is  holi- 
ness among  all  and  everywhere.  Than  this  no  better  refutation 
can  be  made  of  the  calumny  of  those  who  would  make  our  Mother 
the  perverter  of  peoples,  who  would  wrest  from  her  her  proudest 
title — the  title  proclaiming  her  holy  and  prolific  in  Saints. 


ON  MIRACLES.  365 


XLIII.    ON  MIRACLES. 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REV.  MGR.  JOHN  CANON  VAUGHAN. 

"Rabbi,  who  hath  sinned,  this  man  or  his  parents,  that  he  should  be  born 
blind  ?  Jesus  answered :  neither  hath  this  man  sinned  nor  his  parents,  but 
that  the  works  of  God  should  be  made  manifest  in  him." — Isa.  ix,  2  and  3. 

SYNOPSIS — The  widespread  spirit  of  Rationalism  and  the  great  develop- 
ment of  the  natural  sciences  have  caused  the  doctrine  of  Miracles  to  be 
denied  by  many  outside  of  the  true  Church.  Definition  of  miracle,  classifi- 
cation. Miracles  are  possible  since  God  can  transcend  the  forces  of  nature 
and  is  willing  to.  God  can  do  so  because  He  is  omnipotent,  omniscient, 
supreme  in  every  way,  and  all  creation  depends  upon  Him.  Secondly, 
there  is  no  repugnance  on  the  part  of  nature.  Nature  not  upset,  for 
miracles  are  local  events  and  passing  events.  Divine  immutability  not 
destroyed  because  God's  action  in  reference  to  miracles  is  from  all  eter- 
nity. God's  purpose  in  working  miracles  is  to  help  men — seen  clearly 
from  Christ's  life  and  miracles.  Thirdly,  the  positive  evidence  of  trust- 
worthy witnesses  proclaim  that  miracles  are  not  only  possible  but  have 
actually  taken  place.  Case  recorded. 

Every  age  has  a  distinctive  character  of  its  own,  which  marks 
it  off  from  all  that  have  preceded  it.  Thus,  we  have  had  ages  of 
rank  paganism  and  ages  of  sterling  faith;  ages  of  religious  perse- 
cution and  ages  of  religious  fervor;  and  so  on  throughout  the  cen- 
turies. To-day  we  are  living  in  an  age  of  scepticism  and  doubt,  of 
incredulity  and  denial. 

There  is  hardly  any  doctrine  however  holy,  hardly  any  dogma 
however  well  grounded,  that  is  not  loudly  and  insolently  denied  by 
some  class  of  men.  And,  the  more  thoroughly  supernatural  the  be- 
lief may  be,  the  more  certain  are  worldly-minded  men  to  quarrel 
with  it,  and  to  condemn  it.  This  being  the  case,  it  is  hardly  to  be 
wondered  at  that  the  belief  in  those  portentious  occurrences  in  na- 
ture, that  go  by  the  name  of  MIRACLES,  should  arouse  the  opposition 
of  many  writers  and  thinkers  to-day,  and  should  be  declared  by  them 
absurd  and  wholly  unreasonable. 

The  extraordinary  advances  of  science  and  the  stronger  realiza- 
tion of  the  reign  of  law  that  is  found  to  prevail  in  every  part  of 
the  known  universe,  have  rendered  men  impatient  of  the  very  idea 
of  any  violation  of  the  ordinary  sequence  of  events,  and  of  any  de- 
parture from  the  pre-established  order.  Their  one  great  aim  is  to 


366 


THE    CREED. 


discover  the  rules  that  regulate  the  world  around  them,  and  all  it 
contains.  But  once  these  rules  have  been  laid  bare,  they  wish  to 
apply  them  strictly  and  universally,  and  can  brook  no  exceptions. 
If  fire  does  not  always  burn ;  if  cork  does  not  always  float ;  if  water 
does  not  always  seek  its  own  level;  if,  in  a  word,  law  is  not  con- 
stant, changeless  and  reliable,  how,  they  ask,  can  there  be  any  real 
knowledge?  How  can  science  be  progressive  or  even  possible? 

It  is  thus  that  men  argue  whose  thoughts  are  riveted  upon  this 
world  alone  and  who  mind  earthly  things.  To  those,  on  the  con- 
trary, who  take  a  wider  survey,  and  who  look  beyond  the  visible 
phenomena  to  the  invisible  Creator  of  them  all,  the  universe  pre- 
sents a  much  more  impressive,  as  well  as  an  immeasurably  sublimer 
picture.  To  the  Catholic  the  creation  is  no  mere  piece  of  ma- 
chinery which  has  been  set  going,  nobody  knows  how  and  nobody 
knows  by  whom !  It  is  no  clever  automaton,  which  must  not  be  dis- 
turbed nor  interfered  with  lest  its  complicated  parts  should  get  out 
of  order  and  its  wheels  should  cease  to  turn.  No.  Such  is  rather 
the  notion  of  the  unbeliever  and  the  atheist. 

To  the  man  of  faith  the  external  world  is  but  as  the  soft  clay 
in  the  hands  of  an  all-powerful  and  all-wise  Artist  who  has  not  only 
impressed  on  it  the  shape  it  now  possesses,  but  who  can  change  it, 
and  modify  it,  and  add  a  stroke  here  or  erase  a  line  there,  just  as 
He  pleases.  He  is  the  Infinite  and  the  Omnipotent,  and  not  like  a 
poor  human  modeler  who  erects  his  little  statue  and  then  leaves  it 
rigid  and  dry  and  unchangeable  in  its  niche.  No!  The  Divine 
Artist  never  lets  the  clay  out  of  His  own  hands,  but  keeps  it  ever  in 
His  care,  as  soft  and  yielding  to  every  pressure  of  His  fingers  as 
liquid  wax. 

But  let  us  drop  metaphor  and  state  our  belief  in  simpler  words. 

But  in  the  first  place,  we  may  well  pause  to  inquire  what  it  is  that 
we  mean  precisely  by  a  miracle.  In  reply,  we  can  not  do  better  than 
accept  St.  Thomas  Aquinas'  definition.  He  says  that  it  is  "A  sen- 
sible effect,  produced  by  God,  which  transcends  all  the  forces  of 
nature." 

Now  an  event  may  transcend  the  forces  of  nature  in  three  dif- 
ferent ways.  Firstly,  it  may  involve  an  act  which  no  power  in  na- 
ture can  ever  produce  under  any  circumstances  or  conditions  what- 
ever. Such  a  miracle  takes  place  when  the  same  body  is  made  to 
occupy  two  different  places  at  the  same  time :  this  we  find  in  the  bi- 
location  of  some  of  the  saints. 


ON  MIRACLES.  367 

Secondly,  it  may  involve  an  act  which  nature  may  indeed  produce, 
but  not  under  the  same  circumstances,  as  for  instance  the  flowering 
of  a  dry  and  dead  branch  in  the  depth  of  winter.  Nature  can  pro- 
duce blossoms  and  flowers  on  a  branch,  but  not  under  such  circum- 
stances. 

Thirdly,  it  may  involve  an  act  which  nature  may  indeed  produce 
but  not  in  the  same  manner.  If,  for  example,  a  man  have  his  legs 
broken,  nature  may  knit  together  the  shattered  bones  and  heal  the 
wounds  by  a  slow  and  gradual  process.  But  a  sudden  and  instan- 
taneous and  complete  cure  could  not  be  ascribed  to  unassisted  nature, 
but  would  partake  of  the  character  of  a  miracle. 

Thus  we  see  miracles  are  of  three  degrees;  examples  of  each  of 
which  are  met  with  both  in  the  Holy  Scriptures  as  well  as  in  the  lives 
of  the  Saints. 

Why  are  such  events  denied?  It  can  only  be  on  one  of  two 
grounds.  It  must  be  either  because  God  can  not  transcend  the 
forces  of  nature,  or  it  must  be  because  He  will  not.  If  we  are  be- 
lievers in  God's  existence  (and  we  are  not  now  addressing  atheists), 
it  can  be  only  for  one  or  another  of  these  two  reasons.  We  will 
consider  each  separately  and  show  that  both  objections  are  utterly 
groundless. 

To  assert  that  God  the  Omnipotent  Creator  is  hampered  and  re- 
stricted in  His  operations  by  the  very  creatures  to  whom  He  has 
given  existence,  is  such  an  extravagant  statement  that  it  is  difficult 
to  see  how  any  reflecting  mind  can  entertain  it  for  one  moment. 
Its  best  refutation  is  simply  to  recall  facts  which  we  all,  as  Chris- 
tians, openly  admit^  As  we  are  all  fully  aware:  God  exists  inde- 
pendently of  creatures,  He  existed  when  nothing  else  existed.  Then 
(to  speak  in  a  human  way)  a  moment  came  when  He  determined 
to  exercise  His  Omnipotence,  and  to  call  other  beings  into  exist- 
ence. He  founded  the  earth  and  stretched  forth  the  heavens,  and 
established  laws  to  govern  and  control  all  that  He  created.  These 
laws,  which  we  find  running  through  all  nature,  are  His,  just  as 
much  as  the  objects  that  they  govern.  He  is  absolute  Lord  and 
Master,  not  only  of  the  material  universe  which  we  can  see,  but 
of  the  forces  and  powers  which  we  can  not  see.  Nothing  can  with- 
stand His  power  or  offer  any  opposition  to  His  will.  "All  things 
whatsoever  he  wishes  he  does." 

So  dependent  are  all  creatures  on  God,  that  nothing  can  endure 
for  one  brief  moment  unless  He  support  it.  For  God  to  forget  any 


368 


THE   CREED. 


creature  would  mean  the  end  of  that  creature.  It  would  at  once 
cease  to  be.  Did  He  relax  His  hold  on  any  being  whatsoever,  that 
being  would  fall  back  into  its  original  nothingness  just  as  certainly 
and  as  promptly  as  a  stone  now  held  between  my  fingers  would  fall 
to  earth  were  I  to  open  my  hand. 

It  stands  to  reason  that  He  who  made  all  things  and  who  gave 
laws  to  rule  all  things,  and  whose  assistance  and  support  are  needed 
to  maintain  them,  must  possess  full  power  to  alter,  or  suspend,  or 
to  modify  what,  at  every  moment,  is  so  absolutely  dependent  upon 
Him.  The  difficulty  in  admitting  miracles,  if  difficulty  there  be, 
can  not  possibly  come  from  any  want  of  power  on  the  part  of  God. 
We  may  then  dismiss  the  first  objection  without  further  delay. 

But  is  there  any  greater  force  in  the  second  objection?  Evidently 
not.  It  is  objected  that  any  change  in  the  laws  of  nature,  estab- 
lished by  God,  is  impossible,  because  it  would  imply  a  change  in  the 
Unchangeable,  and  that  it  would  indicate  an  alteration  in  the  divine 
mind  and  purpose ;  and  further,  that  the  whole  of  nature  is  so  inti- 
mately connected  and  bound  together  that  an  exception  or  a  relaxa- 
tion or  a  suspension  in  any  law  would  mean  a  dislocation  of  the 
entire  universe  and  tend  to  breed  confusion.  But  such  reasoning 
betrays  an  ignorance  which  is  little  creditable  to  the  objector. 

The  Divine  immutability  is  in  no  way  compromised  by  a  miracle, 
since  a  miracle  argues  no  change  in  the  decrees  of  God.  St.  Au- 
gustine expresses  the  whole  doctrine,  with  his  usual  accuracy  and 
precision,  in  a  single  sentence:  "Deus  opera  mutat,  non  consiUum." 
God  produces  a  change  in  external  things,  but  there  is  no  change 
in  His  own  mind.  Both  the  laws  and  the  exceptions  to  those  laws 
fall  under  the  same  divine  Providence.  He  does  not  first  establish 
a  law  and  then  suspend  it  when  some  special  and  unforeseen  cir- 
cumstance arises.  There  is  no  future  in  God's  knowledge,  and 
nothing  unforeseen.  Every  circumstance  which  to  us  is  future,  is 
seen  by  Him,  as  actually  present.  His  plans  are  laid  from  the  be- 
ginning, with  the  full  and  present  consciousness  of  every  prayer 
that  will  ever  be  addressed  to  Him,  and  of  every  circumstance  that 
would  make  a  miracle  useful  or  desirable.  The  interruption  of  a  law, 
or  the  suspension  of  a  decree,  on  account  of  exceptional  circum- 
stances, such  as  the  need  of  manifesting  His  power,  or  the  testify- 
ing to  the  truth  of  some  doctrine,  is  all  provided  for  and  arranged 
from  eternity,  and  denotes  no  shadow  of  mutability  in  the  mind  of 


ON  MIRACLES.  369 

the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  Universe.  To  deny  this  argues  confu- 
sion in  the  mind  of  the  objector. 

The  Incarnation  was  decreed  so  soon  as  man's  fall  was  known 
to  God ;  and  the  fall  was  known,  not  only  at  the  moment  of  its  com- 
mission, but  from  the  very  first;  that  is  to  say,  from  all  eternity. 
But,  with  the  knowledge  before  Him,  God  decreed  not  only  to  send 
His  only  begotten  Son,  in  human  form,  but  He  decreed  to  offer  all 
men  striking  evidence  of  His  Son's  divine  personality.  For  this 
purpose  He  decreed  that  Christ  should  impress  His  followers  by 
the  complete  control  He  exercised  over  even  the  most  stubborn 
laws  of  nature.  Hence  we  watch  Him  as  He  stills  the  tempest,  mul- 
tiplies the  loaves,  changes  the  water  into  wine,  raises  the  dead,  and 
so  forth.  These  and  the  other  miracles  He  worked  suppose  no 
change  in  God,  since  they  did  not  originate  as  an  afterthought, 
but  were  decreed  simultaneously  with  the  very  laws  to  which  they 
were  destined  to  form  such  notable  exceptions.  Further,  they  were 
ordained  for  a  wise  and  most  useful  and  beneficent  purpose,  viz.,  to 
convince  men  of  the  truth  of  Christ's  mission. 

What  possible  exception  can  even  the  most  perverse  take  to  such 
course?  Or  how  will  he  contend  that  it  interferes  either  with  the 
wisdom  or  the  immutability  of  the  Supreme  Being,  who  disposes  all 
things  with  infinite  sweetness  and  forethought? 

And  this  explanation  of  Our  Lord's  miracles  holds  good — positis 
ponendis — of  the  miracles  worked  by  others  in  His  name.  In  every 
instance  the  event,  however  marvelous,  was  decreed  from  the  be- 
ginning and  formed  a  part  of  that  Divine  plan  which  has  existed 
in  the  mind  of  God  ever  since  God  has  been  God. 

But  some  object  to  miracles,  because  they  think  that  any  disturb- 
ance of  the  regular  and  orderly  sequence  of  events  tends  to  throw 
the  whole  mechanism  of  the  universe  out  of  gear.  But  is  this  true  ? 
It  is  so  far  from  being  true  that  even  we,  ordinary  sinful  men  and 
women,  are  constantly  interrupting  and  interfering  with  the  action 
of  nature's  laws  in  all  parts  of  the  world  by  the  exercise  of  our 
free  wills,  but  without  any  disastrous  consequences  following.  It 
may,  of  course,  be  urged  that  we  suspend  the  action  of  a  law  only 
by  the  application  of  a  higher  law.  Be  it  so.  This  creates  no  diffi- 
culty. For  God's  will  is  the  supreme  law,  so  surely  His  interference 
is  not  so  much  the  abolition  of  law  as  the  predominance  of  a  higher 
over  an  inferior  law. 

Consider  how  man  himself  can  suspend  or  reverse  the  action  of 


37o  THE  CREED. 

the  laws  of  nature.  Take  the  law  of  gravitation.  Is  it  wholly  in- 
amenable  to  our  will?  An  example  will  show.  Here  is  a  heavy 
stone  resting  on  the  ground.  The  weight  of  gravity  tends  to  keep 
it  fastened  and  riveted  to  the  earth.  But  I  stretch  down  and, 
seizing  hold  of  the  stone,  I  lift  it  up  over  my  head,  a  distance  of 
six  feet.  What  has  happened  ?  I  have  not  indeed  destroyed  the  at- 
traction of  gravity.  No.  But  I  have,  in  this  particular  case,  and 
so  far  as  the  stone  is  concerned,  rendered  it  inoperative.  Indeed, 
I  have  so  utterly  counteracted  its  effect  that  the  stone,  instead  of 
following  the  line  of  gravity,  and  falling  from  A  to  B,  rises  in  op- 
position to  gravity's  force  and  describes  a  path  from  B  to  A.  Have 
I,  in  consequence,  thrown  the  whole  machinery  of  the  Universe  out 
of  gear  ?  Have  I,  even  in  an  infinitesimal  degree,  tended  to  produce 
confusion  ?  Evidently  not. 

And  if  I,  with  my  extremely  circumscribed  powers,  can  so  modify 
and  control  and  suspend  the  action  of  some  of  nature's  laws,  is  it 
reasonable  to  deny  to  God  and  His  chosen  representatives  the  power 
of  modifying  and  controlling  and  suspending  the  operations  of  all 
nature's  laws,  even  the  laws  of  death  and  disease? 

If  I  consider  the  example  of  the  lifting  of  the  stone  I  shall  find 
that  the  act  was  not  a  necessary  consequence  of  any  pre-existing 
force  or  series  of  forces — not  a  link  in  an  endless  chain — but  that 
it  was  a  direct  interference  of  my  own  perfectly  free  will.  Though 
I  know  not  how  my  will,  which  is  an  immaterial  force  of  my  im- 
material soul,  can  act  upon  matter,  yet  I  know  that  it  does  so  act 
when  it  causes  my  muscles  to  move  and  contract  and  to  raise  a 
weight,  or  perform  other  operations.  And  what  is  the  inference? 
•  /ell,  clearly  that  what  I  can  do  in  a  limited  way  God  can  do  in  an 
unlimited  way. 

But  the  clearest  and  strongest  proof  we  have  that  miracles  are 
possible  is  that  they  have  so  often  happened.  This  is  a  fact  that 
may  be  shown,  like  any  other  fact,  by  an  appeal  to  the  testimony 
of  witnesses.  The  verdict  of  honest  and  unimpeachable  eye-wit- 
nesses ought  to  be  enough  to  satisfy  reasonable  men.  For  such  wit- 
nesses are  not  asked  to  do  anything  abstruse  or  difficult,  but  merely 
to  observe  what  is  taking  place  before  their  eyes.  When  the  blind 
man  in  the  Gospel  received  his  sight  it  required  no  extraordinary 
sagacity  on  the  part  of  his  parents  and  relations  and  friends  who 
had  known  him  and  compassionated  him  on  his  infirmity  for 
twenty  years  or  more,  to  note  what  had  taken  place.  It  was  clear 


ON  MIRACLES.  371 

to  all  that,  before  Our  Lord  touched  him,  he  was  blind.  It  was 
equally  patent  to  all  that  afterward  he  had  the  complete  use  of  his 
eyes.  The  born-blind  suddenly  received  his  sight.  He  who  could 
not  see  now  sees.  If  the  testimony  of  men  on  a  simple  matter  of 
fact  such  as  that  is  not  proof  enough,  then  human  evidence  can 
never  demonstrate  anything,  and  the  very  courts  of  law  had  better 
be  closed. 

Miracles  have  been  proved  to  have  happened  in  the  past,  and  as 
God's  hands  are  not  shortened,  we  shall  not  be  surprised  to  learn 
that  they  happen  also  in  these  days. 

We  will  close  our  sermon  to-day  with  a  striking  instance  in 
point,  taken  verbatim,  though  not  in  extenso,  from  an  interesting 
account  given  by  Dr.  G.  Marsh. 

Peter  de  Rudder,  a  laborer,  aged  forty-four,  was  employed  by 
Viscount  de  Bus,  and  lived  at  labbeke,  in  Belgium,  when  on  Feb- 
ruary 1 6,  1867,  he  sustained  a  fracture  of  the  left  leg,  in  which  both 
the  bones,  tibia  and  fibula,  were  broken  below  the  knee  joint.  The 
limb  was  put  in  a  starch  bandage  by  Dr.  Affanaer,  of  Oudenburg, 
Owing  to  the  severe  suffering  of  the  patient,  the  surgeon  removed 
the  bandage,  when  he  found  an  ulcer  communicating  with  the  frac- 
tured bones,  which  were  bathed  in  pus.  Periostitis  had  set  in. 
After  many  months  of  futile  treatment  other  advice  was  sought.  Dr. 
Jacques  and  Dr.  Verriot,  of  Bruges,  were  consulted,  as  also  Dr.  Van 
Hostenberghe,  of  Stachille.  All  agreed  that  the  case  was  incurable, 
and  that  only  amputation  remained.  Then  the  Viscount  sought  the 
opinion  of  Prof.  Thiriat,  of  Brussels,  who  confirmed  that  of  his 
confreres. 

De  Rudder,  however,  refused  to  lose  his  leg,  and  for  a  year  re- 
mained in  bed.  During  the  years  that  followed  he  got  about  on 
crutches  and  presented  a  most  pitiable  sight  to  all  who  saw  him. 
Eight  years  after  the  accident,  April  5,  1875,  he  obtained  permis- 
sion from  the  new  Viscount,  for  the  old  one  had  died,  to  go  to  the 
Grotto  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  atOostacker,  a  place  of  pilgrimage  much 
venerated  in  Belgium.  In  January  of  that  very  year  Dr.  Affanaer 
had  seen  the  wound  and  certified  to  its  condition.  Later  still,  Dr. 
Verrier  corroborated  his  verdict.  Nine  days  before  the  pilgrimage 
some  of  the  neighbors  saw  and  examined  the  wound.  On  the  very 
day  itself  on  which  he  obtained  leave  to  go  to  Oostacker,  those  who 
dressed  the  limb  saw  the  broken  ends  of  the  bones,  the  interval  ^be- 
tween the  upper  and  lower  fragments,  the  open  ulcers,  and  the 


3?2  THE   CREED. 

swollen  condition  of  the  leg.  On  the  following  day,  April  6,  the 
evening  before  De  Rudder  set  out  on  his  eventful  journey  to 
Oostacker,  all  these  details  were  again  seen  by  other  witnesses. 
On  his  arrival  at  the  Shrine  he  was  helped  to  a  seat  in  front  of  the 
spot  where  a  statue  of  Our  Lady  of  Lourdes  had  been  erected. 
There  he  drank  of  the  water,  and  in  fervent  prayer  besought  Jesus 
Christ,  through  the  prayers  of  His  Blessed  Mother,  to  restore  to 
health  his  broken  limb,  that  he  might  be  able  once  more  to  work 
for  the  support  of  his  wife  and  children.  Suddenly  he  arose,  leav- 
ing his  crutches  behind  him,  and  walked  to  the  Grotto,  kneeling 
there  in  prayer.  Then,  springing  to  his  feet,  he  burst  forth  in  thanks 
to  God,  declaring  that  he  was  cured.  Accompanied  by  his  wife  and 
a  great  crowd  he  walked  upright  and  unaided  by  his  crutches  to  the 
castle  of  the  Marchioness  of  Costabourne,  using  his  once  shattered 
leg  as  freely  as  the  other.  There  he  was  examined.  It  was  found 
that  the  swelling  had  disappeared,  the  bandages  had  fallen  off,  the 
wounds  of  the  leg  and  foot  were  healed,  the  upper  and  lower  ends 
of  the  two  bones  had  been  reunited,  and  there  was  no  longer  the 
interval  between  them.  The  two  legs  were  of  identically  the  same 
length  and  of  equal  soundness  and  value. 

For  twenty-three  years  De  Rudder  lived  and  worked  in  the  em- 
ployment of  the  Viscount,  and  eventually  died  from  pneumonia  at 
the  age  of  seventy-five  on  March  22,  1898.  The  cure  was  not  only 
instantaneous,  but  permanent. 

Many  further  particulars  might  be  added  in  further  corrobora- 
tion  of  this  miracle.  But  enough  has  been  said  to  bring  conviction 
to  any  unprejudiced  mind.  This  is  but  one  miracle  among  a  multi- 
tude which  have  been  worked  even  in  our  own  time.  They  are  open 
to  the  examination  and  study  of  all  who  are  interested.  The  evi- 
dence of  so  many  and  such  competent  witnesses  many  of  whom 
are  still  alive,  should  be  enough  and  more  than  enough,  not  only  to 
prove  that  miracles  really  are  possible,  but  that  they  still  take  place, 
even  in  this  incredulous  age. 

They  show  that  God's  hand  is  not  shortened,  but  that  now,  as  al- 
ways, He  is  the  Master  in  His  own  creation,  and  can  do  whatsoever 
He  wills.  To  Him  be  glory  and  honor  forever  and  ever.  Amen. 


ON  THE  REFORMATION  AND  THE  INQUISITION.          373 


XLIV.    ON  THE  REFORMATION  AND  THE 
INQUISITION. 

BY   THE   REV.    JOHN    FREELAND. 

SYNOPSIS.— I.  The  words  of  Our  Lord  to  the  Apostles,  "Lo  I  am  with  you 
all  days  even  to  the  consummation  of  the  world."  Source  of  consolation 
to  them,  (a)  Division  even  in  Apostolic  times. 

II.  The  sign  of  Catholicity  was  being  on  the  side  of  the  Apostles. 
This  meant  being  with  and  on  the  side  of  Christ,     (a)   The  same  con- 
sideration with  regard  to  the  Church;  for  the  Apostolic  promises  were 
made  to  her.     (ft)  Being  with  the  Church  the  same  thing  as  on  the  side 
of  Christ.    Departure  from  her,  departure  from  Him. 

III.  This  took  place  at  the  so-called  Reformation.     The  cause  and 
circumstances  attending  that  movement,     (a)  Private  judgment  and  its 
consequences,     (b)  Luther  and  his  want  of  spirituality,    (c)  Henry  VIII 
and  his  iniquity,    (d)  Catholics  could  have  no  sympathy  with  a  movement 
which  was  attended  by  such  circumstances. 

IV.  Persecution  an  objection  made  by  Protestants  against  Catholics. 
Inquisition  mentioned  particularly,     (a)  This  tribunal  was  a  part  of  the 
established  law  just  as  capital  punishment  is  now.    The  Church  is  as  much 
and  as  little  answerable  for  the  Inquisition  as  Protestantism  is  for  capital 
punishment,    (b)  We  must  look  at  the  subject  from  the  standpoint  of  the 
people  who  lived  at  that  time,     (c)   The  Catholic  religion  was  so  much 
interwoven  with  the  action  of  the  people  that  in  defending  themselves,  as 
they  presumed  they  were  doing  by  means  of  the  Inquisition,  they  seemed 
to  be  defending  the  Church.   But  to  ascribe  either  the  Inquisition  itself  or 
the  cruelties  connected  with  it  to  the  Church  would  be  the  same  thing  as 
putting  down  to  the  Ten  Commandments  (e.  g.,  Thou  shalt  not  steal) 
unjust  or  exaggerated  sentences  for  the  offence  of  stealing  of  which  we 
sometimes  hear. 

The  words  of  Our  Lord,  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the 
consummation  of  the  world,"  must  have  afforded,  in  after  times, 
the  greatest  consolation  to  the  Apostles  to  whom  they  had  been 
addressed.  In  hours  which  otherwise  would  have  been  filled  with 
the  greatest  gloom — owing  to  persecution,  to  the  difficulty  experi- 
enced in  making  prosperous  the  cause  of  Christ,  to  the  obstacles 
placed  in  the  way  by  open  adversaries  as  well  as  by  false  friends — 
their  burden  would  be  considerably  lessened,  and  their  sorrow  turned 
into  joy,  by  the  recollection  of  the  words  with  which  He  at  the  very 
last  had  spoken  to  them :  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  all  days  even  to  the  end 
of  the  world." 

Pre-eminent  among  the  difficulties  with  which  the  Apostles  had 
to  contend  was  that  arising  from  those  persons  who  had,  first  of  all, 


3?4  THE   CREED. 

been  their  followers  and  had  then  opposed  them  by  setting  up  some 
kind  of  religion,  differing  from  that  which,  in  the  beginning,  they 
had  received.  There  was  Alexander  the  coppersmith,  of  whom  St. 
Paul  complains.  There  was  Diotrephes,  of  whom  St.  John  makes 
mention.  There  were  those  who  "wrested  the  Scriptures  to  their  own 
destruction"  of  whom  St.  Peter  speaks.  In  those  early  times  there 
were  many  who,  to  use  the  words  of  the  Apocalypse,  had  left  their 
first  love,  and  had  commenced  walking  up  and  down  the  great  Ro- 
man Empire  pointing  to  their  own  distinctive  sect  with  the  words: 
"Lo,  here  is  Christ." 

To  the  Apostles  the  promise  of  the  Lord  that  He  was  with  them 
was  a  great  rock  of  defence  as  well  as  a  cause  of  supreme  conso- 
lation. For,  if  Christ  was  with  them,  it  was  very  evident  that  He 
could  not  be  with  these  others.  He  could  not  say  to  His  Apostles : 
"He  that  heareth  you  heareth  me,  and  he  that  despiseth  you  de- 
spiseth  me,"  and,  at  the  same  time,  be  with  those  who  contradicted 
those  Apostles  almost  in  every  assertion  they  made.  Therefore,  even 
before  the  Twelve  had  passed  away  from  this  earth,  a  kind  of  badge, 
or  sign,  or  watchword,  had  been  invented  by  means  of  which  the 
true  Christian  was  known:  was  the  person  who  claimed  the  right 
of  being  looked  upon  as  a  follower  of  Christ  one  who  accepted  the 
Apostolic  teaching?  According  to  the  answer,  yes  or  no,  his  claim 
was  acknowledged  or  rejected.  To  be  with  the  Apostles  came  to 
mean  the  same  thing  as  being  with  Christ;  while  the  very  fact  of 
being  found  to  be  in  opposition,  on  matters  of  doctrine,  with  those 
who  had  been  first  of  all  selected  by  the  Son  of  God  to  be  "min- 
isters of  Christ  and  dispensers  of  the  mysteries  of  the  kingdom  of 
God"  was  sufficient  to  prove  that  they  were  the  enemies  of  the  great 
Master  at  the  same  time. 

It  is  necessary  to  keep  these  facts  in  view  whenever  we  are  treat- 
ing of  similar  circumstances  in  connection  with  the  Catholic  Church. 
The  promises  made  to  the  Apostles  were  made  also  to  her.  She  is 
the  continuation  of  their  work.  Her  pastors — the  Bishops  in  com- 
munion with  the  Roman  See,  and  the  Pope  without  the  Bishops 
when  he  fulfils  the  solemn  office  of  teacher  of  the  faithful — her 
pastors  stand  before  the  world  in  the  place  of  Christ,  their  claim  to 
the  allegiance  of  all  being  supported  by  the  very  same  words  as 
those  which  supported  the  same  claim  made  by  the  Apostles,  viz., 
"He  that  heareth  you  heareth  me,  and  he  that  despiseth  you  de- 
spiseth me."  The  strength  of  her  position  no  one  can  deny  with- 


ON  THE  REFORMATION  AND  THE  INQUISITION.          375 

out  denying,  nay,  destroying  that  attribute  of  Christ  which  makes 
Him  the  Supreme  Truth  incapable  of  uttering  a  falsehood.  If  Christ 
is  the  very  truth,  the  Church  is  here  to-day,  and  not  only  the  Church, 
but  His  Church;  for  in  addressing  St.  Peter  the  divine  words  of 
Christ  are:  "Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my 
Church,  and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it."  To  say 
that  the  Church  of  Christ  no  longer  exists,  or  that,  although  exist- 
ing, it  teaches  error,  is  much  the  same  thing  as  saying  that  Our  Lord 
gave  utterance  to  an  untruth.  He  asserts  that  the  gates  of  hell 
shall  not  prevail,  while  the  supposition  that  the  Church  has  erred 
asserts  just  the  contrary;  and  the  supposition  that  the  Church  has 
ceased  to  exist  credits  hell  with  having  been  victorious  in  the  most 
complete  manner  possible,  that  is,  by  effacing  all  vestige  of  the  di- 
vine Institution  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth.  The  Church  of  Christ 
has  always  been,  and  still  is,  then,  existing  in  the  midst  of  mankind. 
It,  and  it  alone,  has  the  power  to  teach  the  truth,  since  to  it  alone 
was  the  promise  of  the  continually  abiding  presence  of  Christ  made, 
as  well  as  that  of  the  indwelling  Spirit  of  Truth.  To  leave  it  to  act  in 
opposition  to  it,  to  teach  that  which  it  does  not  hold,  or  to  refuse  to 
accept  that  which  it  does,  is  the  same  thing  as  leaving  Christ,  as  act- 
ing in  opposition  to  Him,  as  teaching  what  He  does  not  teach,  and  as 
refusing  to  admit  that  which  He  Himself  has  laid  down  for  our 
acceptance. 

Viewed  in  the  light  of  these  considerations,  the  Reformation  of 
the  sixteenth  century  must  appear  as  a  wholesale  defection  from 
Our  Lord  on  the  part  of  a  large  portion  of  the  continent  of  Europe. 

Although  the  causes  of  the  Reformation  have  been  variously 
given,  it  is  agreed  by  all  that  the  principal  one  was  that  which  goes 
by  the  general  name  of  private  judgment.  Religion,  it  was  main- 
tained, was  a  matter  about  which  each  individual  was  competent 
to  arrive  at  the  truth  by  his  own  unaided  reason.  Everyone  should 
read  the  Scripture  for  himself.  Everyone  was  capable  of  drawing 
the  proper  conclusion  from  its  pages.  The  plowman  at  the  plow ; 
the  weaver  at  his  shuttle;  the  smith  at  his  forge;  the  house- 
wife at  her  spinning  wheel,  were  all  endowed  with  a  mind  to  dis- 
criminate, and  an  intelligence  to  form  an  unerring  judgment  on 
spiritual  things. 

In  vain  did  the  Church  point  out  the  extreme  danger  of  such 
opinions.  Private  judgment  had  its  way.  Sacred  Scripture  was 
read,  discussed,  disputed  about,  as  a  celebrated  English  historian 


376 


THE    CREED. 


tells  us,  in  every  beer  house  and  tavern.  There  was  no  subject, 
howsoever  holy,  which  did  not  become  the  topic  of  conversation, 
often  ending  in  high  words,  often  the  cause  of  life-long  contention, 
and  always  having,  as  its  ultimate  result,  the  one  of  making  con- 
fusion more  confusing.  The  astonishing  part  of  the  whole  matter  is 
that  not  even  the  wisest  of  the  disputants  would  have  laid  claim  to 
the  power  of  passing  a  judgment  in  any  other  branch  of  knowledge. 
They  would  readily  have  granted  that  not  they,  but  the  astronomer, 
the  man  who  had  devoted  his  life  to  the  study  of  the  subject,  was 
alone  able  to  approach  somewhere  near  to  the  truth  about  the 
movement  of  the  stars.  The  explanation,  the  meaning  of  the  laws 
of  the  land,  they  willingly  left  to  the  lawyer  and  the  judge. 
They  did  not  pretend  to  know  each  man  his  neighbor's  trade  and 
profession  better  than  he  knew  it  himself;  and  they  would  have 
treated  with  ridicule  the  assertion  that  a  mechanic  from  a  town 
must  know  more  about  agriculture  than  the  farmer  in  the  country. 
Only  in  religious  affairs  did  they  consider  themselves  better  qualified 
to  judge  than  a  Church  which  had  been  engaged  in  the  work  for 
over  fifteen  hundred  years.  In  that  one  matter,  of  all  others  so 
difficult,  so  mysterious,  teeming,  so  to  speak,  with  so  many  deep 
and  unfathomable  truths,  they  gravely  asserted  that  everything  could 
be  certainly  and  surely  known  by  the  mere  perusal  of  the  Scripture 
itself. 

The  inevitable  happened.  Destruction  and  discord  took  place. 
First  the  old  religion,  the  only  faith  known  by  Europe  from  the 
day  it  became  first  of  all  Christian  territory,  was  found  fault  with, 
and,  little  by  little,  whittled  away.  Indulgences,  purgatory,  prayers 
for  the  dead,  and  prayers  to  the  Saints  were  at  once  dismissed.  De- 
votion to  Our  Blessed  Lady  went  next.  The  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the 
Mass  followed.  Finally,  belief  in  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  that  great 
sign  of  Our  Lord's  love  for  the  human  race,  was  condemned.  Every- 
thing that  was  beautiful  and  soul-inspiring  in  religion  was  swept 
away.  Vestments,  church  decorations,  even  the  playing  of  an  organ, 
were  all  solemnly  asserted  to  be  inventions  of  the  evil  one,  and  even 
the  fabric  of  a  church  was  regarded  by  some  as  a  wicked  thing,  the 
open  air  being  the  only  temple  in  which  a  fitting  worship  could  be 
given  to  God.  This  done,  the  New  Religion,  Protestantism,  as  it 
began  to  be  called,  turned  upon  its  own  children.  Each  sect  de- 
sired to  reform  the  other.  Lutherans  hated  Zwinglians,  and  these 
latter  returned  the  hatred  with  interest.  Calvinists  destroyed  So- 


ON  THE  REFORMATION  AND  THE  INQUISITION.          377 

cinians,  and  Socinians  were  only  prevented  from  retaliating  upon 
the  Calvinists  by  the  fact  that  their  numbers  were  not  sufficient 
to  enable  them  to  do  so.  In  England  the  Church  of  England  im- 
prisoned the  Brownists,  the  first  dissenters;  and  the  two  of  them 
together  joined  hands  in  persecuting  the  Anabaptists,  and,  later  on, 
the  Quakers.  Before  fifty  years  had  passed  away,  they  had  all  of 
them  shown  what  the  Catholic  Church  had  from  the  commence- 
ment of  this  unfortunate  movement  asserted,  that  private  judg- 
ment, when  left  to  itself,  will  create  as  many  religions  as  there  are 
individuals,  each  one  of  which  will  feel  no  love  for,  and  show  no 
mercy  toward  the  other. 

Again,  when  we  come  to  consider  the  characters  of  the  authors 
of  this  great  religious  revolution,  it  is  especially  difficult  to  believe 
that  the  hand  of  God  was  either  guiding  or  assisting  it.  Very  little 
real  spirituality  is  to  be  found  in  the  actions  of  any  one  of  them. 
Humility,  the  virtue  so  noticeable  in  the  life  of  the  Divine  Founder 
of  the  Christian  Religion,  has  no  place  in  the  sayings,  the  writings, 
the  general  attitude  of  Martin  Luther,  who  pretended  to  reform  it. 
No  one  can  read  his  boisterous  and  sometimes  coarse  language 
against  all  who  dared  to  disagree  with  him  without  a  shudder. 
There  is  no  deep  piety,  none  of  that  atmosphere  of  the  other  world, 
which  we  seem  to  breathe  in  the  exercises  of  St.  Ignatius,  in  the 
letters  of  St.  Theresa,  all  of  them  real  reformers  in  their  way. 
Luther's  language,  particularly  his  Table  Talk,  is  redolent  of  the 
air  of  a  tavern.  His  ideas  are  of  the  earth,  earthy.  When,  as 
would  be  the  case  with  a  reformer,  we  expect  to  see  the  flame  of 
the  spirit  pure,  bright,  divine  almost,  we  find  only  a  dark  animality 
of  the  flesh.  We  seek  the  Sanctuary  when  we  open  the  pages  of 
his  great  work,  the  Commentary  on  the  Galatians,  and  we  rise  from 
the  perusal  feeling  as  though  we  had  been  wading  through  a  turgid 
stream  of  the  worst  unpleasantnesses. 

Henry  VIII,  of  England,  another  reformer,  impresses  no  one  ex- 
cepting by  his  colossal  wickedness.  There  have  been  worse  kings 
than  he  was ;  there  may,  perhaps,  in  the  long  course  of  the  world's 
history,  have  been  worse  men;  but  there  has  never  been  a  person 
who  hath  openly  and  privately  committed  so  much  iniquity  and,  at 
the  same  time,  pretended  that  he  was  working  for  God  in  the  doing 
of  it.  He  divorced  his  first  wife  because,  as  he  said,  his  conscience 
troubled  him ;  he  sent  the  second  to  the  block  because  the  same  con- 
science, so  he  put  it,  tormented  him ;  his  fifth  wife  was  brought  to  the 


378 


THE    CREED. 


scaffold  because  he,  the  husband,  as  though  he  were  so  very 
righteous,  was  shocked  at  her  reported  crimes ;  and,  at  the  moment 
of  his  own  death,  he  was  thinking  of  sending  his  sixth  wife  to  her 
doom  because  she  did  not  quite  see  eye  to  eye  with  him  on  what  he 
considered  religious  views.  It  is  the  hypocrisy  of  the  man  which 
is  so  revolting.  It  is  not  merely  that  he  put  to  death  the  very  best 
and  the  most  pious  persons  in  the  land;  not  merely  that,  when  he 
robbed  he  robbed  so  extensively  and  took  away,  to  be  used  for  very 
worldly  objects,  that  which  had  been  dedicated  to  God;  not  merely 
that  before  he  suppressed  the  religious  houses  he  wilfully  invented, 
by  means  of  his  commissioners,  all  kinds  of  crimes  against  monks  and 
nuns,  which  had  no  foundation  in  fact;  but  what  makes  the  iniquity 
of  the  royal  miscreant  far  more  notorious  than  that  of  others  is  that 
he  sinned  with  pious  expressions  upon  his  lips,  and  made  religion 
and  reformation  and  conscience  an  excuse  for  his  wicked  deeds. 

Catholics  have  never  believed  that  a  movement  of  which  the 
authors  were  so  steeped  in  wickedness  could  have  come  from 
God.  It  is  indeed  wonderful  that  Protestants  can  look  upon  it  as 
a  divine  or  even  as  a  good  work.  Nevertheless,  they  do  so  regard 
it  You  must  remember  the  end,  they  say.  You  must  think  of  the 
result.  The  means  of  bringing  that  end  about  were  of  course,  bad ; 
there  was  much  violence,  much  robbery,  much  innocent  blood  shed ; 
but  the  object  in  view  was  a  righteous  one,  and  it  is  the  object  in 
view,  they  assert,  which  condones  the  employment  of  the  many 
questionable  methods  by  which  that  object  was  attained.  They  will 
give  this  excuse  almost  in  the  same  breath  as  that  with  which  they 
will  accuse  the  members  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  using  any  means, 
even  the  worst  and  the  most  reprehensible,  to  bring  about  what  they 
consider  to  be  a  good  object.  The  accusation  against  us  is  indeed 
very  false;  but  how  will  Protestants  defend  the  Reformation, 
brought  about  by  injustices,  by  imprisonment  and  bloodshed,  by  the 
breaking  of  many  of  the  chief  commandments,  unless  they  have 
recourse  to  the  principle  that  the  end  justifies  the  means?  And,  as 
the  principle  is  a  wicked  one,  how  can  they  regard  a  reformation, 
the  result  of  so  much  that  was  infamous,  otherwise  than  as  being 
infamous  itself? 

In  connection  with  this  great  historical  event  an  outcry  is  fre- 
quently, even  now,  raised  against  the  sharp  and  cruel  means  which, 
so  it  is  alleged,  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  various  countries  made 
use  of  to  impede  its  progress  or  to  stamp  it  out  completely.  Per- 


ON  THE  REFORMATION  AND  THE  INQUISITION.          379 

secution,  and  particularly  the  Inquisition,  are  words  almost  certain 
to  be  employed  whenever  this  subject  arises  for  discussion.  Look 
at  Spain,  it  will  be  said;  and  immediately  the  most  heartrending 
pictures  will  be  drawn  of  the  sufferings  undergone  by  Protestants 
for  their  faith  at  the  hands  of  Catholics. 

We  have  no  wish  to  appear  either  to  excuse  or  to  condone  per- 
secution of  any  kind;  nevertheless,  it  must  be  said  that,  in  laying 
the  faults  of  the  Inquisition  at  the  door  of  the  Catholic  Church 
there  is  as  little  reason  as  there  would  be  in  saying  that  Protestantism 
is  responsible  for,  e.  g.,  capital  punishment.  We  do  not  put  a  man 
to  death  for  taking  the  life  of  another  because  of  the  religion  of 
the  country,  but  because  such  punishment  is  prescribed  for  that 
particular  crime  by  the  law  of  the  land.  Let  us  suppose  that  in 
three  centuries  time  capital  punishment  for  homicide  will  no  longer 
exist.  The  supposition  is  not  an  impossible  one,  for  there  are  dis- 
tinct signs  in  some  countries  of  a  wish  to  discontinue  the  practice. 
What  would  you  think,  were  the  people  living  three  hundred  years 
hence  to  speak  of  the  Protestant  religion  in  connection  with  capital 
punishment  in  the  same  manner  as  many  persons  now  mention  the 
Catholic  Church  in  connection  with  the  Inquisition?  What  would 
we  say  to  some  such  description  of  the  matter  as  the  following, 
written  we  will  suppose  about  the  year  A.  D.  2200:  "The  Protestant 
religion  in  the  twentieth  century  had  descended  to  the  lowest  depths 
of  depravity.  It  is  fearful  to  think  that,  while  pretending  to  for- 
get and  to  forgive,  it  was  regarded  as  a  holy  thing  to  take  revenge 
on  the  person  guilty  of  murder  and  to  put  him  to  death  for  it!  A 
minister  of  religion,  even,  would  be  supplied  to  the  unhappy  culprit 
to  prepare  him  to  die.  Prayers  even  were  said.  For  some  time  be- 
fore the  fatal  day  the  minister  would  urge  the  unfortunate  man  to 
confess  openly  his  wicked  deed  and  the  justice  of  his  sentence,  not 
that  he  might  be  let  off,  but  in  order  that  these  cruel  men  might 
put  their  victim  to  death  with  a  more  easy  conscience.  The  min- 
ister's presence,  the  prayers,  the  exhortations,  are  sufficient  to  prove 
the  intimate  manner  in  which  the  Protestant  religion  was  mixed 
up  in  this  inhuman  business.  For — the  description  might  be  sup- 
posed to  continue — inhuman  it  certainly  was.  Think  of  the  torture 
which  the  poor  sufferer  must  have  felt  at  being  pinioned,  at  being 
blindfolded,  at  the  mere  apprehension  of  the  ignominious  death  by 
hanging,  which,  for  three  whole  weeks,  his  wicked  tormentors  kept 
him  in  continual  mind  of,  and,  principally,  the  minister  who  visited 


38o 


THE    CREED. 


him  every  day.  A  religion  such  as  this  which  could  lend  itself  to 
barbarities  of  this  nature  had  certainly  lost  all  claim  to  existence. 
It  must  have  been  rotten  to  the  core." 

Now  what  would  be  our  answer  to  such  wild  declamation?  We 
would  say  that  capital  punishment  was  a  provision  not  of  Protestant- 
ism, but  of  the  State ;  that  the  people  of  the  twentieth  century  make 
their  laws  to  meet  certain  matters  which  they  consider  to  be  evils 
in  just  the  same  way  as  civilized  nations  have  always  done;  that 
every  punishment  has  an  appearance  of  cruelty  about  it ;  and,  above 
all,  we  should  say,  using  the  words  of  a  very  celebrated  English 
writer,  that  no  one  is  fitted  to  judge  the  ages  that  are  gone  unless 
he  endeavor,  as  perfectly  as  he  can,  to  inhale  the  spirit  and  to  breathe 
the  atmosphere  of  those  ages. 

As  we  have  imagined  the  critic  of  the  future  speaking  of  capital 
punishment  supposed  by  that  time  to  be  discontinued,  so  in  reality 
do  many  still  speak  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  the  Inquisition. 
It  is  easy  to  wax  eloquent  about  the  enormities  of  this  tribunal,  but 
it  is  quite  as  easy  to  make  out  a  case  of  intense  cruelty  against 
our  forefathers  who  sent  a  man  to  the  gallows  for  sheep  stealing 
and  for  less  kinds  of  larceny. 

No  one  now,  whether  Catholic  or  Protestant,  can  regard  the  In- 
quisition with  any  other  feelings  than  those  of  extreme  reproba- 
tion. But  we  must  consider  the  minds,  particularly  of  the  legisla- 
tors of  the  ages  when  it  was  in  use.  It  was  made  the  law  of  the 
land  for  the  avoidance  of  what  was  then  thought  serious  evils  to 
the  commonwealth.  Medieval  society  rested  upon  a  foundation 
of  religion,  and  that  religion  was  the  Catholic.  There  was  no  other. 
It  had  become  so  interwoven  with  the  society  of  that  time — with  its 
habits,  its  customs,  its  occasions  grave  and  gay,  its  business  and  its 
amusements — that  religion  could  not  be  attacked  without  attacking 
society,  and  society,  in  defending  itself,  could  easily  be  made  to  ap- 
pear to  be  defending  religion.  Much  the  same  condition  of  affairs 
in  the  modern  State  is  to  be  noticed  with  regard  to  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments. Some  of  these  Commandments  are  still  knit  with  the 
moral  fiber  of  Protestant  nations.  A  great  many  of  our  laws  are 
based  upon  them.  Any  infringement  of  them  is  resented  by  the 
State,  not  because  it  is  the  infringement  of  a  religious  law,  but 
because  it  is  that  of  a  State  enactment.  Future  ages  may  think  that 
the  State  it  wrong  in  this;  but  we  can  hardly  imagine  that  any 


ON  THE  REFORMATION  AND  THE  INQUISITION.          381 

future  age  will  accuse  the  State  of  wanton  cruelty  much  less  of 
persecution  because  of  its  zeal  for  the  Ten  Commandments. 

In  a  similar  manner  did  the  Catholic  governments,  while  defend- 
ing themselves,  seem  to  be  defending  the  Church.  What,  they 
thought,  will  be  the  end  of  all  these  new  views  on  religious  mat- 
ters? What  was  their  drift?  What  would  it  ultimately  bring 
about?  One  thing  they  saw  before  their  eyes  as  a  consequence  of 
the  Reformation:  It  was  causing  the  greatest  discord  and  unrest 
among  the  people.  But  the  rulers  were  religious  enough  to  believe 
that  it  was  doing  worse  than  this — it  was  destroying  the  immortal 
souls  of  men.  Death  was  the  punishment  for  destroying  the  body; 
were  they  asked  to  destroy  with  less  severity  those  who  were  en- 
gaged in  killing  the  soul — that  soul  which  Christ  Himself  had  said 
was  greater  than  a  world  of  kingdoms  and  all  their  riches  ? 

Be  not  frightened,  therefore,  by  the  great  clamor  that  is  raised  by 
our  enemies,  who  are  ever  fond  of  hurling  the  Inquisition  at  us. 
Despite  the  storms  of  opposition  and  the  calumnies  of  bigotry,  honest 
minds  will  judge  aright  and  the  Church  shall  not  be  the  loser,  for 
has  not  Christ  said:  "Lo,  I  am  with  you  all  days  even  to  the  con-. 
sumation  of  the  world."  ' 


THE  CREED. 


XLV.    SECRET  SOCIETIES.    FORBIDDEN  BOOKS. 

BY  THE  REV.   JOHN   W.    SULLIVAN. 

"We  charge  you,  brethren,  in  the  name  of  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  that  ye 
withdraw  yourselves  from  every  brother  walking  disorderly,  and  not  accord- 
ing to  the  tradition  which  they  have  received." — II  Thess.  cxi,  6. 

SYNOPSIS. — Warning  of  St.  Paul  that  we  withdraw  from  every  brother 
walking  disorderly,  for  evil  companions  corrupt  good  morals. 

I.  Secret  Societies,  Motives  for  joining. — /.   Principles  seemingly 
good.     2.  Attraction  of  ritual,  titles,  etc.     3.  Temporal  advantages.     4. 
Beneficial  element. 

Answers. — /.  Spiritual  above  temporal.  2.  Example  of  Masons,  (a) 
A  menace  to  civil  and  ecclesiastical  authority,  (b)  In  France  and  Italy, 
no  faith.  3.  Church  neither  personal  nor  provincial.  4.  Danger  of  sup- 
planting religion — case  cited.  5.  Statement  and  theological  principles.  6. 
Church  encourages  and  approves  all  legitimate  societies.  7.  Need  of  such 
supplied  by  Knights  of  Columbus,  etc. 

II.  Forbidden  Books. — i.   We  are  thinkers  or  repeaters — our  lives 
ours  in  proportion  as  we  think;  influence  of  books  on  thought.    2.  Church 
legislates  for  all.    3.  Objection  that  reading  must  be  done.    Answer. — It 
must,  but  there  is  no  necessity  of  reading  books  dangerous  to  faith  and. 
morals,    (a)  Effect  of  immoral  books,     (b)  Effect  of  irreligious  books — 
our  inability  to  grasp  or  to  meet  their  objections  to  religion  or  the  doubts 
they  raise.    4.  Experience  of  Church.    5.  Certain  modern  writers.    6.  En- 
couragement of  letters  by  Church.     7.  Some  Catholic  authors  we  may 
profitably  read.    8.  Catholic  weeklies,  journals  and  magazines. 

Conclusion. — Principle  is  faith  and  morals  must  be  safeguarded — no 
extraordinary  miracles  worked  by  God  for  heedless  individuals. 

This  command,  so  strongly  expressed  by  St.  Paul,  can  be  taken 
in  a  limited  sense  as  referring  to  false  religions  with  their  prayers, 
meetings  and  preaching.  In  a  broader  sense,  it  is  an  echo  of  Our 
Lord's  warning,  "Beware  of  false  prophets,  who  come  to  you  in 
the  clothing  of  sheep,  but  inwardly  they  are  ravenous  wolves." 
While  the  Apostle's  words  are  not  as  forceful  as  his  Divine  Mas- 
ter's, their  meaning  is  fully  as  clear. 

"Withdraw  yourself  from  every  brother  walking  disorderly." 
You  would  withdraw  yourselves  from  the  company  of  drunkards 
and  thieves.  You  would  not  associate  yourselves,  or  suffer  your 
children  to  associate  with  lewd  persons.  Nor  would  you  seek  the 
company  of  murderers.  Why  ?  Because  these  brethren  are  walking 
disorderly,  and  evil  companions  corrupt  good  morals. 


SECRET  SOCIETIES.    FORBIDDEN  BOOKS.  383 

It  is  not  of  these  brethren  I  would  speak.  Your  own  sense  of  de- 
cency, your  desire  of  a  clean  reputation,  your  personal  responsibility, 
would,  in  most  cases,  preserve  you  from  the  disorderly  walking  with 
the  lewd,  the  drunkard,  the  thief  or  the  murderer.  There  are  other 
brethren  who  are  disorderly,  other  false  prophets  in  sheeps'  cloth- 
ing, whose  true  character  is  not  on  the  surface,  whose  aim  is  not  so 
readily  discerned,  and  whose  influence  is  far  more  subtle.  It  would 
be  a  sheer  impossibility  to  dwell  on  each  one  of  these  too  numerous 
brethren.  Their  general  features  as  to  purpose  and  practice  are 
sufficiently  known.  Their  specific  features,  however,  or  their  final 
aims  are  not  easily  understood,  except  by  the  few  who  look  well 
into  and  study  them  most  carefully. 

Without  doubt,  the  most  interesting  and  probably  the  most  dan- 
gerous of  these  brethren  who  "walk  disorderly  and  not  according  to 
the  tradition  which  they  have  received  from  us,"  are  these  two  which 
will  come  under  our  present  consideration — Secret  Societies  and 
Forbidden  Books.  We  can  at  most  but  present  the  Church's  atti- 
tude in  regard  to  them,  furnish  one  or  two  plain  reasons  justifying 
her  position,  and  throw  out  a  few  suggestions  for  your  future 
conduct. 

The  disciplinary  position  which  the  Church  has,  for  the  last  two  cen- 
turies maintained,  touching  secret  societies,  is  a  source  of  astonish- 
ment to  the  mind  of  the  reflecting  sectarian.  Not  unfrequently  is 
the  wisdom  of  her  action  questioned  even  by  her  loyal  sons.  Their 
non-Catholic  friends  who  have  joined  the  ranks  of  these  societies  find 
nothing  wrong  in  the  principles  explained  at  the  initiation.  The 
elaborate  ritual,  the  mystic  emblems,  titles  like  the  Most  Excellent 
Grand  High,  Most  Serene  Lord,  gorgeous  costumes,  with  rich  orna- 
ments and  trappings,  excite  the  imagination  into  a  glow  and  the 
curiosity  into  activity.  This  is  not  frankly  acknowledged,  but  none 
the  less  it  is  a  subtle  attraction  and  a  powerful  motive. 

Men  prominent  in  the  professional,  business  and  social  worlds 
belong  to  one  or  another  of  these  societies.  The  young  man  who  is 
in  daily  contact  with  Freemasons  or  Odd  Fellows  perceives  that 
they  can  assist  him  in  the  paths  of  his  ambition.  The  shopkeeper 
sees  an  increase  of  custom,  the  candidate  for  political  preferment 
shrewdly  calculates  the  value  of  lodge  influence,  the  lawyer  and 
the  physician  seek  to  establish  a  desirable  clientele.  Temporal 
profit  and  advancement  narrow  and  restrict  the  field  of  vision. 

Perhaps  the  strongest  argument  preferred  for  membership  is  the 


THE   CREED. 

beneficial  element.  Care  for  the  sick,  concern  for  the  widow  and 
the  orphans  will  urge  men  where  other  motives  or  reasons  have 
failed. 

In  the  face  of  such  reasons,  for  the  most  part  valid  and  sensible, 
how  does  the  Church  explain  her  position  ?  Why  has  she  assumed 
that  position?  Wherein  is  the  wisdom  of  it? 

Need  we  state  that  the  Church  ever  regards  the  spiritual  welfare 
of  her  children  as  of  vaster  importance  than  their  temporal?  Is  it 
not  of  her  very  nature  that  it  should  be  thus  ?  With  this  truth  held 
steadily  before  our  minds  we  may  go  on  to  answer  the  question 
proposed. 

The  society  of  Freemasons  unquestionably  occupies  the  most 
prominent  and  influential  position  among  the  secret  societies  of 
America.  By  virtue  of  its  antiquity,  its  action  hitherto  in  the  United 
States,  its  membership,  its  extension  and  the  repute  of  its  votaries 
among  other  fellow  citizens,  it  enjoys  a  prestige  all  its  own,  and  it 
may  therefore  be  taken  as  a  most  practical  example. 

The  Masons  were  first  condemned  by  Clement  XII.  They  had 
severed  from  their  original  aim,  and  were  bent  upon  extending 
their  privileges  and  adding  to  their  possessions.  Character  and 
reputation  were  lost  in  the  quest,  and  their  orthodoxy  and  morality 
were  bitterly  impugned.  Hence  because  they  were  universally  re- 
garded as  a  menace  both  to  temporal  and  spiritual  authority,  because 
they  had  by  underhand  means  been  instrumental  in  the  failure  of 
the  Sixth  Crusade  under  Frederick  II,  because  they  made  private 
treaties  with  the  Saracens  to  secure  their  Eastern  possessions,  and 
were  creating  an  empire  within  the  empire,  they  were  condemned 
by  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  in  1738. 

Now,  whatever  its  aim  in  this  country  at  present,  Freemasonry 
falls  under  the  condemnation  of  the  Church,  since  its  members  pro- 
fess to  hold,  and  do  hold,  fellowship  with  the  Freemasons  of  Eu- 
rope, where  they  have  in  France  and  Italy  thrown  aside  the  last 
vestige  of  religion — the  belief  in  the  existence  of  the  Deity. 

If  such  were  the  natural  results  of  a  secret  society  in  the  days 
when  Christianity  and  Catholicity  were  synonymous,  and  if  such 
are  the  results  even  in  Catholic  countries  to-day,  what  may  be  looked 
for  in  the  United  States  where  these  institutions  are  composed  of 
persons  of  all  creeds  or  of  no  creed,  of  persons  whose  love  for  God 
has  waxed  cold?  Had  there  been  no  other  reasons,  these  final  and 
almost  necessary  effects  would  be  enough  to  justify  our  position. 


SECRET  SOCIETIES.    FORBIDDEN  BOOKS.  385 

But,  it  may  be  said,  the  Freemasons  are  not  in  our  land  what  they 
are  in  Europe.  They  do  not  here  what  they  do  there.  They  are  not 
in  any  sense  a  political  organization  in  the  United  States.  This  is 
all  comforting  indeed,  if  we  are  to  wait  with  the  simplicity  of  the 
dove,  until  they  have  accomplished  among  us  all  that  they  have 
accomplished  on  the  Continent. 

Let  there  be  no  question  here  of  the  members  as  men,  let  there 
be  no  attack  upon  any,  no  praise  of  any.  The  Church  does  not  con- 
sider in  themselves  the  character  and  morality  of  this  individual  or 
that  individual. 

The  Church  is  not  local,  she  does  not  legislate  for  one  town  or 
one  province,  but  for  the  world.  Her  discipline  may  vary,  but  in 
faith  and  morals  she  is  like  her  Divine  Master,  "The  same  yester- 
day, to-day  and  forever." 

The  answer  of  Archbishop  Spalding,  of  Baltimore,  to  a  Mason's 
letter,  inquiring  why  the  Catholic  Church  condemns  the  order,  is 
most  important,  as  it  gives  the  key  to  the  situation.  "This  is  done," 
says  he,  "for  many  reasons,  chief  among  which  is  the  fact  that 
Masonry  is  the  very  best  human  and  natural  counterfeit  aiming 
to  supersede  our  divinely  revealed  and  supernatural  religion."  In 
other  words,  the  Church  is  not  so  much  opposed  to  Masonry 
as  Masonry  is  opposed  to  the  Church,  for  it  attempts  to  do  that  for 
which  she  has  been  divinely  commissioned. 

Men  naturally  thirst  for  religion  in  one  form  or  another,  and  the 
secret  society,  with  its  rites,  its  travesty  of  Christianity,  its  manuals 
or  collections  of  sacred  lessons  which  one  might  casually  take  to  be 
a  collection  of  Epistles  and  Gospels,  is  one  of  the  means  by  which 
that  thirst  is  satisfied. 

Would  it  be  an  exaggeration  to  assert  that  the  vast  majority  of 
Masons  in  our  country  deem  the  lodge  a  "good  enough  religion" 
for  themselves?  It  would  not.  Many  do  not  realize  the  danger 
or  do  not  estimate  at  its  true  value  this  opposition  offered  to  re- 
ligion by  the  secret  society  habit  of  supplanting  it  in  the  human 
heart. 

Consider  now  a  concrete  case  on  the  point  at  issue.  In  1905  one 
Master  Mason  of  New  York  City  admitted  to  his  lodge  a  noted 
gambler.  Suspension  from  the  order  was  the  punishment  meted  out 
for  the  indiscretion.  A  request  for  a  charter  to  form  a  new  lodge 
was  made  by  him.  The  petition  was  denied.  Unwilling  to  submit 
to  what  he  regarded  as  harsh  treatment,  the  master  took  the  matter 


386 


THE  CREED. 


into  the  Civil  Courts  and  won  his  case.  An  appeal  to  the  Appellate 
Division  of  the  Supreme  Court  was  made  by  the  Masonic  Order. 
The  authority  of  the  order  must  be  maintained,  it  must  therefore 
manifest  its  true  character.  "It  is  unconstitutional  for  the  civil  au- 
thorities to  interfere,"  claimed  the  representative  of  the  order,  as 
quoted  in  the  New  York  Herald.  "It  is  unconstitutional,  for  the 
Masonic  order  is  a  religious  sect.  It  is  a  sect  with  its  ritual,  its 
creed,  its  cult,  just  as  much  a  sect  as  the  Lutherans,  the  Methodists, 
the  Roman  Catholics."  Can  aught  be  plainer?  Is  there  no  danger 
that  he  who  joins  such  an  order  will  deem  it  a  good  enough  re- 
ligion for  himself?  Is  there  no  opposition  in  this  to  the  religion  of 
our  Holy  Mother,  the  Church? 

She  who  maintains  that  she  alone  is  the  Church  established  by 
Christ,  that  she  alone  teaches  what  Christ  taught,  can  not  do  too 
much  to  prevent  her  children  from  abandoning  the  one  true 
fold,  from  deserting  the  bark  of  Peter  which  is  to  carry  them  on  to 
salvation.  She  must  assert  her  authority  to  check  that  which  saps 
the  very  foundation  of  Catholicity,  aye,  of  Christianity,  and  with  it 
the  bulwarks  of  law,  morality  and  social  self-restraint. 

The  Catholic  Church  condemns  every  society,  the  initiation  into 
which  is  accompanied  by  an  oath,  the  terms  of  which  are  unknown 
to  the  affiant,  or  which  bind  him  to  obey  all  future  commands  of  its 
officers  or  to  keep  secret,  as  against  legitimate  authority,  any  crime 
committed  by  individual  members  or  attempted  by  the  society.* 

There  is  also  the  most  reasonable  condemnation  of  all  societies 
whose  aim  is  subversive  of  the  well  being  of  Church  or  state, 
whether  an  oath  be  exacted  or  not.**  The  fundamental  principle 
is  that  an  oath,  to  be  licit,  must  have  three  requisites,  namely: 
truth,  judgment  and  justice.  The  second  of  these  means  that  the 
oath  should  be  taken  with  discretion,  prudence,  consideration  and 
reverence — not  without  necessity  and  just  cause.***  This  is  the 
statement  of  the  Church's  position,  and  this  the  theological  prin- 
ciple. Whether  the  society  be  the  Freemasons,  the  Odd  Fellows  or 
the  Knights  of  Pythias  at  present  under  the  ban,  whatever  be  the 
name  of  the  society  or  the  association,  to  all  alike  the  statement 
and  the  principle  apply. 

Think  not  that  the  Church  is  tyrannical !  She  is  and  ever  has  been 


*Konings  Comp.  Theol.  De  Juramen. 
**  A.  et  D.  Cone.  Bait.  Plen.  II,  Tit.  XII. 
***Kenrick— Theo.  Mor.  De  Sec.  Praec. 


SECRET  SOCIETIES.    FORBIDDEN  BOOKS.  387 

solicitous  for  the  largest  liberty  of  her  children,  consistent  with 
sound  faith  and  practice.  She  recognizes  the  fact  that  so  long  as 
men  shall  exist  there  must,  in  the  nature  of  things,  be  partner- 
ships, societies,  alliances  among  individuals  as  surely  as  there  must 
be  political  parties  in  the  state.  Has  she  ever  failed  to  encourage 
those  which  propose  no  other  aim  than  that  of  mutual  protection 
and  assistance,  with  due  regard  to  the  rights'  of  others?  "An  ex- 
cellent enterprise,"  declares  Pope  Leo,  "is  this  of  forming  associa- 
tions most  varied,  which  spring  up  in  these  times  with  a  prodigious 
fecundity  on  every  side,  and  in  every  order  of  social  friendship. 
When  they  are  animated  by  a  good  spirit,  both  moral  and  religious, 
they  are  certainly  profitable  and  opportune."  Can  our  gentlemen 
complain  that  there  are  no  suitable  Catholic  societies,  when  there 
is  such  a  society  as  the  Knights  of  Columbus,  whose  members  are 
loyal  sons  of  the  Church,  prominent  in  the  business,  the  professional 
and  the  social  world;  a  splendid  organization  whose  aim  is  social 
and  beneficial,  whose  purpose  is  mutual  protection  and  advancement. 
With  this  society  in  existence  our  Catholics  have  no  legitimate  ex- 
cuse for  joining  the  ranks  of  the  societies  under  the  ban  of  the 
Church. 

Know  then  it  is  an  earnest  solicitude  for  your  faith,  for  the 
preservation  of  your  holy  religion,  that  has  induced  the  Church  to 
safeguard  you,  her  children,  against  any  and  all  societies  whose 
tendency  is  directly  or  indirectly  to  undermine  these  precious  gifts 
of  the  Holy  Spirit. 

Nor  would  the  Church  fulfill  her  divine  mission  unless  she  raised 
her  voice  against  that  other  great  evil,  that  most  pernicious  of  all 
scandals,  that  tremendous  far-reaching  menace  to  faith  and  to 
morals — the  reading  of  impious  and  dangerous  books?  Against 
these  she  has  been  most  firm  ever  since  St  Paul  preached  at 
Ephesus,  "When  many  of  them  who  had  followed  curious  arts, 
brought  together  their  books,  and  burnt  them  before  all ;  and  count- 
ing the  price  of  them,  they  found  the  money  to  be  fifty  thousand 
pieces  of  silver"  (Acts  xix,  19).  No  ungenerous  sacrifice,  it  must  be 
confessed,  to  make  in  behalf  of  the  new  faith. 

There  is  no  life  without  action,  and  the  most  important  element  in ; 
our  acting  is  thought.  Stop  thinking  and  you  rob  the  soul  of  its 
very  life  blood.  Check  thought  and  the  soul's  activity  ceases.  Our 
expressions,  our  actions,  our  very  lives  are  ours  in  proportion  as 
they  are  the  outcome  of  our  own  thinking  or  the  resolve  of  others. 


388 


THE   CREED. 


Most  of  us,  unfortunately,  remember  and  repeat  with  far  greater 
facility  than  we  think.  What  results  from  this?  The  vast  majority 
of  us  abide  by  the  word  of  the  hour  which  the  few  thinkers  choose 
to  give  us.  They  put  their  thoughts  into  print,  their  disciples  popu- 
larize the  sayings  of  the  master  and  question  neither  his  principle 
nor  the  results  that  flow  therefrom.  So  the  world  is  flooded  with 
books  both  good  and  bad.  They  are  read,  talked  of,  commended 
or  condemned.  Some  are  for  the  hour,  some  are  to  be  the  pos- 
session of  all  time. 

Again,  the  Church  is  not  local,  not  provincial;  she  legislates,  on 
broad  principles,  for  the  world.  She  encourages  and  has  encouraged 
letters.  She  brings  the  light  to  her  children,  she  is  anxious  to  re- 
move the  veil  of  darkness  and  ignorance.  Like  a  prudent  mother 
who,  consulting  the  best  interests  of  her  offspring,  forbids  it  to 
play  with  fire,  so  she  says  to  her  children:  "Such  and  such  books 
are  inimical  to  your  faith  or  to  your  morals;  you  must  not  read 
them." 

"But,"  you  object,  "we  must  know  the  thought  of  the  world,  we 
must  keep  abreast  of  the  times."  In  the  first  place,  the  number 
of  books  she  explicity  condemns  is  not  large,  and  the  omission  of 
them  from  your  list  will,  in  no  way,  prevent  your  keeping  in  touch 
with  modern  intellectual  work.  In  the  next  place,  life  is  too  short  to 
permit  our  reading  a  tithe  of  even  the  safest  and  best  productions 
of  the  hour.  Think  you  our  Holy  Mother  is  harsh  and  unreasonable 
when  she  prohibits  us  books  which  we  begin  to  read  in  a  state  of 
innocence  and  finish  in  a  state  of  sin?  Books  that  teach  the  young 
or  the  inexperienced  a  thousand  disgraceful  secrets ;  seductive  and 
agreeable  corruptors  created  and  adorned  by  the  perverted  talents 
of  some  master  to  place  the  study  of  guilt  within  the  reach  of  every 
mind  and  every  class  of  society,  to  destroy  the  rising  seeds  of  virtue 
in  the  heart,  to  defile  the  imagination  with  lascivious  suggestions, 
to  pervert  the  soul  by  sophisms  ?  What  is  virtue  or  heaven  or  God 
to  such  writers  ?  Will  you  read,  will  you  place  in  the  hands  of  your 
children,  those  authors  who  destroy  the  brightness  of  life's  morn- 
ing and  leave  the  spirit  to  be  consumed  in  the  contemplation  of  a 
parched  and  arid  waste  of  human  nature,  without  good  and  without 
the  freshening  dews  of  heaven?  These  are  the  books  which  the 
Church  forbids,  these  are  the  works  of  the  brethren  who  walk  dis- 
orderly. With  them  she  likewise  condemns  those  in  which  the  doc- 
trines and  mysteries  of  God's  holy  religion  are  covertly  or  openly 


SECRET  SOCIETIES.    FORBIDDEN  BOOKS.  389 

ridiculed  and  calumniated,  its  pure  and  sublime  worship  represented 
as  gross  superstition,  its  law  of  love  treated  as  fanaticism. 

How  few  men  there  are  sufficiently  instructed  to  refute  all  the 
objections  openly  raised  against  religion !  And  fewer  still  are  those 
who  can  detect  the  poison  of  infidelity  and  impiety  instilled  into 
the  pages  of  irreligious  books. 

Has  the  lesson  of  the  centuries  taught  the  Church  no  wisdom? 
Have  our  modern  notions  outgrown  the  experience  and  the  pru- 
dence of  our  aged  mother?  Has  the  rapid  spread  of  the  sixteenth 
century  heresy  taught  no  lesson  through  its  literature?  and  in  the 
eighteenth  century  was  not  the  derision  of  all  that  is  sacred  due  to 
the  impious  productions  of  French  writers  ? 

In  an  endless  stream  there  flows  from  the  printing  press  books 
that  are  anti-Christian  in  spirit,  some  professedly  so,  more  cloaked 
under  the  specious  guise  of  science  and  philosophy.  Who  shall  be 
the  watchman  on  the  walls  of  Israel  to  warn  us  of  the  enemies'  ap- 
proach if  it  be  not  the  divinely  appointed  one  of  Israel  ?  We  stand 
in  need  of  direction  in  the  warfare.  We  require  someone  who  can 
point  out  the  weakness  and  the  dangers  that  beset  us  in  our  read- 
ing, for  we  see  not  the  pitfalls  till  the  harm  is  done. 

Mrs.  Humphrey  Ward,  George  Eliot  and  others  are  read  with 
avidity  and  their  subtle  influence  is  not  realized  till  the  iron  is  in 
our  soul  and  the  sweet  prayers  of  our  childhood  have  grown  insipid. 
The  mire  of  Zola  and  the  nauseating  realism  of  D'Annunzio  leave 
us  unclean  and  lower  our  moral  standard.  We  learn  from  Suder- 
mann  and  Ibsen  the  mere  joy  of  life  and  the  disenchantment  of  life's 
most  sacred  relations.  So  we  sail  on  in  our  mad  rush  with  no 
strong  hand  on  the  tiller,  no  guiding  mind  to  save  us  from  the  shoals 
and  the  rocks  till  the  Church  has  lost  its  attraction  and  we  no  longer 
think  of  God  and  have  no  further  concern  for  our  future.  We 
grow  heedless  of  the  great  principle  that  we  must  not  expose  our- 
selves to  the  pernicious  influence  of  books  which  weaken  our  faith 
and  our  moral  code,  for  "he  that  loveth  the  danger  shall  perish 
therein." 

The  aim  of  the  Church  is  not  to  cut  us  off  from  the  highest  and 
broadest  literature,  but  by  condemning  the  unsafe,  to  lead  us  to  shun 
whatever  will  bring  no  good  and  may  cause  great  evil.  From  the 
works  of  immorality,  infidelity,  pessimism,  from  all  that  will  cloud 
the  mind  with  doubt  and  unrest,  from  all  that  will  leave  a  sting  and 


39o  THE  CREED. 

bitterness  in  our  thoughts  and  callousness  in  our  hearts,  the  Church 
desires  to  protect  us. 

Seek  out  therefore  the  best  of  the  classic  literature,  the  most  of 
it  is  clean  and  safe.  Draw  from  the  best  of  to-day's  productions, 
there  is  more  of  it  worth  while  than  you  will  have  the  ability  or  the 
desire  to  read.  The  roots  of  English  literature  are  struck  deep  in 
Catholic  soil.  Fortunately  the  old  tree  has  in  recent  times  produced 
some  fine  Catholic  branches.  Need  we  dwell  on  Louise  I.  Guiney, 
Charles  W.  Stoddard,  Cardinal  Newman  or  Father  Sheehan  ?  Need 
we  call  your  attention  to  the  broad,  modern,  scholarly  work  of  Mrs. 
Wilfred  Ward? 

There  is,  moreover,  a  Catholic  or  religious  press,  and  it  should 
have  our  hearty  co-operation.  Have  we  subscribed  for  any 
of  our  well  edited  Catholic  journals,  or  read  them?  How  have  we 
regarded  our  Catholic  weeklies?  To  how  many  do  they  serve 
as  an  antidote  to  correct  the  poisonous  effects  of  the  venom  of 
our  daily  press.  Give  a  generous  support  to  our  Catholic  Weeklies, 
Journals  and  Magazines,  they  will  determine  our  bearing  as  Catho- 
lics on  the  daily  issues,  they  will  be  signals  to  warn  us  of  unsus- 
pected and  besetting  dangers. 

The  guiding  principles  of  the  Church,  then,  in  condemning  secret 
societies  and  in  forbidding  unsafe  books,  is  her  overpowering  desire 
to  preserve  intact  our  faith  and  morals. 

Whether  a  society  has  been  officially  placed  under  the  ban  of  the 
Church  or  not,  whether  a  book  has  been  placed  on  the  Index  or  not, 
let  us  wisely  follow  her  guidance  and  avoid  any  and  all  societies, 
shun  each  and  every  book  that  menaces,  in  the  principles  or  in  its 
results,  our  holy  faith  and  our  sense  of  the  moral  law. 

We  must  all  work  out  our  own  salvation  in  fear  and  trembling, 
and  no  man  can  assert  that  he  has  no  cause  for  fear.  Beware  of  pride, 
by  which  men  are  so  blinded  as  to  fall  victims  of  infidelity.  The 
wisest  of  kings  frequented  the  society  of  idolatrous  women,  had  his 
moral  sense  blunted  and  degraded  himself  so  far  as  to  bow  before 
idols.  Shall  we  boast  of  our  strength  where  Solomon  fell?  The 
Lord  might  have  protected  him,  even  in  the  midst  of  such  sur- 
roundings, but  God  does  not  perform  that  kind  of  miracles.  Lot 
could  have  been  saved  in  the  midst  of  the  fire  which  consumed  the 
guilty  cities  of  the  plains;  Israel  could  have  been  kept  intact  amid 
the  idolatry  of  the  Gentiles,  but  again,  the  Lord  works  no  such 
miracles. 


SECRET  SOCIETIES.    FORBIDDEN  BOOKS. 


39' 


"Withdraw  yourself  from  every  brother  walking  disorderly"  is 
the  command,  new  in  form,  old  in  principle.  God  bade  Lot  go  out 
of  the  doomed  city.  All  intercourse  with  idolatrous  nations  was  for- 
bidden the  Israelites.  "Go  out  from  Babylon,  my  people ;  that  you 
be  not  partakers  of  her  sins,  and  that  you  receive  not  of  her 
plagues"  (Apoc.  xviii,  4). 

Co-operation  was  demanded  of  Lot  and  of  Israel,  so  to  is  it  de- 
manded of  us.  No  more  than  they  can  we  expect  saving  miracles 
when  we  rashly  expose  ourselves  to  the  danger  of  losing  the  faith  by 
refusing  to  withdraw  ourselves  from  every  brother  walking  dis- 
orderly, for  "He  that  toucheth  pitch  shall  be  defiled  with  it"  (Eccles. 
xiii,  l)rf 


392  THE  CREED. 


XLVI.     SOCIALISM  AND  CHRISTIANITY. 

BY   THE   RIGHT    REV.    JAMES    BELLORD,    D.D. 

"Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  justice,  and  all  these  things 
shall  be  added  unto  you." — Luke  xii,  31. 

SYNOPSIS. — 7.  The  prominence  that  Socialism  is  assuming  in  the  present 
day  world.  What  Socialism  is.  Its  various  forms — the  material,  im- 
moral, unchristian  and  Christian  form.  The  common  basis  of  all  is  the 
dignity,  equality  and  brotherhood  of  man,  privileges  brought  by  Christ 
into  this  world. 

II.  The  relation  between  Religion  and  Socialism.    I.    Religion  unites 
man  to  his  God,  the  end  of  his  existence;  hence  shows  him  how  to  use 
temporalities  in  accordance  with  his  last  end.    2.    The  Christian  religion 
first  laid  down  the  true  principles  of  Socialism.     Christian  Socialism  in 
the  Early  Church — at  the  present  day  in  monasteries  and  con-vents.     3. 
The  working  out  of  these  principles;  the  great  effects  produced. 

III.  Rise   of  Socialism   consequent  upon   rejection   of   the   Church 
and  the  principles  laid  down  by  her  Founder.     The  status  of  the  poor 
to-day.     The  remedy.    Return  to  the  proper  principles  as  taught  by  the 
Church  and  the  removal  of  false  methods  used  by  the  anti-Christian 
Socialists. 

I.  There  is  a  word  in  every  man's  mouth — a  word  that  is  full  of 
bright  visions  and  high  hopes  to  multitudes  weary  with  labor  and 
wasted  with  hunger — a  word  that  brings  fear  to  the  hearts  of  the 
prosperous  and  anxiety  to  those  who  bear  the  responsibilities  of 
'ruling,  whether  it  be  in  Monarchy  or  Republic.  It  is  Socialism. 
This  is  a  world-wide  problem  of  this  day ;  it  has  to  be  taken  account 
of  in  the  internal  politics  of  every  country  of  the  world.  Statesmen, 
soldiers,  philosophers,  the  rich  and  the  poor  have  all  a  stake  in  the 
settlement  of  this  question.  Any  one  of  us  may  be  vitally  concerned 
with  it  some  time  or  other.  Socialism  is  not  simply  a  social  or 
political  question;  it  is  closely  connected  with  religious  doctrines. 
Let  us  consider  it  by  that  light  which  enlightens  all  questions,  so  that 
we  may  be  able  to  form  a  true  judgment  about  a  thing  which  is 
unduly  hated  by  many,  which  raises  undue  hopes  in  more,  and  is 
misunderstood  by  almost  all. 

The  political  tendency  in  Christian  countries  is  toward  a  widening 
of  the  basis  of  power;  toward  a  transfer  of  power,  and  of  honor, 
from  the  hands  of  one  to  many,  from  a  few  to  all.  At  one  time 


SOCIALISM  AND  CHRISTIANITY.  393 

power  had  become  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  one — King,  Em- 
peror, Dictator.  To  him  the  people  belonged  by  a  sort  of  right  of 
ownership.  He  was  unquestioned  lord  of  their  lives,  their  posses- 
sions, and  even  of  their  religious  convictions  sometimes.  Subjects 
had  no  rights  before  him.  Their  duty  was  to  render  up  all  their 
earnings  to  him  in  taxes,  their  daughters  to  his  lusts,  and  their  lives 
in  fighting  for  his  personal  ambition  or  private  enmities.  Two  hun- 
dred years  ago  a  king  could  say:  "The  State?  I  am  the  State." 
Fifty  years  ago  another  could  say  to  an  Ambassador :  "Sir,  there  is 
no  man  of  consequence  in  my  dominions  except  the  man  I  choose  to 
speak  to,  and  only  for  the  time  that  I  am  speaking  with  him."  Now 
we  are  approaching  a  time  when  the  poor  man,  the  worker,  will  be 
the  depository  of  power.  It  is  he  who  is  coming  now  to  be  recog- 
nized as  "the  State."  The  only  man  of  consideration  is  the  man  who 
possesses  his  confidence.  The  poor  man  is  of  importance  because 
he  is  one  of  the  great  dangers  of  the  State  as  at  present  constituted ; 
and  he  is  of  importance  and  of  danger  because  of  Socialism.  He  is, 
or  he  soon  will  be,  a  Socialist ;  and  Socialism  means  in  general  terms 
a  great  revolution  in  the  established  order  of  society,  and  the  loss  and 
gain  of  much  that  is  valuable.  Social  revolution  is  not  of  necessity 
violent,  unjust,  or  evil.  It  is  the  continuance  of  the  secular  move- 
ment of  mankind  which  has  been  in  progress  since  Christianity  took 
root  in  Europe.  Similar  revolutions  have  already  taken  place,  not 
always  with  those  horrors  which  are  usually  associated  with  the  name 
of  Revolution,  but  peaceably,  gradually,  legally,  under  the  auspices 
of  religion.  Another  social  revolution  is  in  progress ;  its  completion 
is  only  a  matter  of  a  few  decades.  Whether  it  shall  be  worked  out 
with  violence  and  end  in  catastrophe,  or  whether  it  shall  be  carried 
out  peaceably  and  result  in  sharing  the  goods  of  this  world  accord- 
ing to  each  man's  rights,  and  so  unite  all  classes  in  the  bonds  of 
brotherhood,  this  will  depend  entirely  on  the  amount  of  recognition 
accorded  by  the  contending  parties  to  the  doctrine  and  law  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

The  word  Socialism  may  indicate  very  various  things.  There  is 
the  Socialism  which  is  immoral  and  unchristian,  which  declares  that 
"Property  is  robbery,"  and  which  would  rectify  inequalities  by 
seizing  on  all  wealth  and  dividing  it  among  all  men.  There  is  a  doc- 
trinaire Socialism,  which  has  its  plans  carefully  elaborated  on  paper 
without  taking  account  of  human  nature.  It  disregards  the  law  that 
a  social  system  must  be  developed  from  the  living  organism  of  so- 


394  THE  CREED. 

ciety,  and  can  not  be  manufactured  brand-new  for  the  occasion  out 
of  the  brain  of  an  amateur.  Then  there  is  the  Socialism  of  responsi- 
ble statesmen  who  yield  bit  by  bit  to  the  requirements  of  the  multi- 
tudes. This  is  founded,  not  on  any  deep,  true  principles,  but  on 
present  material  interests ;  it  proceeds  sometimes  on  right  and  some- 
times on  wrong  lines,  and  at  the  best  only  does  imperfectly  what 
Christianity  would  have  done  in  the  natural  course  had  it  not  been 
impeded.  Finally  there  is  a  Christian  Socialism  grounded  on  the 
equality  of  all  men  as  declared  by  God,  on  brotherly  love,  and  on 
the  right  of  every  man  to  receive  a  proper  subsistence  in  return  for 
honest  labor. 

There  is  a  common  idea  at  the  base  of  all  these  forms.  In  a  gen- 
eral way  we  may  say  that  Socialism  is  the  assertion  of  the  dignity 
of  humanity,  the  brotherhood  and  equality  of  all  men,  and  the  rights 
of  labor.  It  would  abolish  these  artificial  classifications  which  have 
survived  fiom  a  primitive  form  of  society.  It  demands  a  share  in 
those  fruits  of  the  earth  which  have  been  appropriated  by  the  few 
who  are  strong,  and  used  by  them  for  selfish  and  anti-social  ends. 
It  would  make  every  man  useful  in  some  way  to  society,  and  would 
say:  "If  any  man  will  not  work,  neither  let  him  eat"  (II  Thess. 
iii,  10).  It  requires  that  they  who  produce  the  bulk  of  wealth  should 
not  be  arbitrarily  restricted  from  getting  some  benefit  from  it;  and 
that  as  a  man  has  a  right  to  his  life  he  should  also  have  the  right  to 
live  with  such  comfort  and  decency  as  befits  his  state;  and  that  on 
due  conditions  a  man  should  have  a  share  in  the  gifts  of  God  to 
men,  in  the  earth  as  well  as  in  the  fresh  air  and  the  sunshine.  The 
watchwords  of  Socialism  are  liberty,  equality  and  fraternity;  three 
privileges  brought  by  Jesus  Christ  to  men,  but  suppressed  by  the 
strong  for  their  own  aggrandizement.  These  I  take  to  be  the  funda- 
mental ideas  in  all  that  is  called  Socialism;  these  I  shall  mean,  in 
their  Christian  aspect,  when  I  speak  of  Socialism. 

These  ideas  have  been  germinating  in  the  minds  of  men  for  a  cen- 
tury and  a  half  at  least ;  and  now  they  are  bearing  fruit,  partly  good 
and  partly  bad.  A  general  movement  is  in  progress  for  ameliorating 
the  condition  of  the  weaker  classes,  and  releasing  them  from  the 
tyranny  of  capital  and  from  virtual  slavery.  The  Catholic  Church 
through  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  and  bishops,  and  laymen,  is  the  guid- 
ing spirit  of  this  movement.  On  the  other  hand,  schemes  have  been 
devised  for  overthrowing  the  social  system,  or  patching  it  up  with- 
out the  aid  of  Christianity;  absurd  ideals  have  been  set  up,  de- 


SOCIALISM  AND  CHRISTIANITY.  395 

structive  errors  have  been  made,  brutal  threats  have  been  uttered, 
and  these  have  discredited  the  legitimate  aspirations  of  social  reform- 
ers. But  it  is  only  the  methods  that  are  at  fault.  We  ought  to  dis- 
regard the  superficial  and  accidental  extravagances  and  seek  for  the 
true  idea  which  must  necessarily  exist  in  any  universal  movement  of 
the  human  mind. 

II.  Some  persons  no  doubt  will  ask  what  religion  can  have  to  do 
with  a  matter  which  is  entirely  political  and  social, — a  matter  of 
mere  external  organization  and  distribution  of  material  wealth. 
Why  should  the  Church  interfere  with  this  more  than  with  excise 
regulations  or  town  drainage?  i.  It  is  true  this  is  not  the  direct 
work  of  Christianity.  Its  first  object  is  to  reveal  divine  truth  to  us, 
and  cleanse  us  from  sin,  and  guide  us  to  heaven.  When  a  certain 
one  said  to  Our  Lord :  "Master,  speak  to  my  brother  that  he  divide 
the  inheritance  with  me,"  He  made  answer:  "Man,  who  hath  ap- 
pointed me  judge  or  divider  over  you?"  (Luke  xii,  14).  But  none 
the  less  did  the  teaching  of  Our  Lord  influence  social  and  commercial 
arrangements.  He  laid  down  certain  great  truths  and  laws,  and  we 
have  to  guide  the  whole  of  our  lives  by  these.  There  is  no  revela- 
tion about  forms  of  government,  or  colonization,  or  trading;  the 
laws  of  hygiene,  and  of  supply  and  demand  do  not  belong  to  the 
moral  or  the  spiritual  order ;  yet  even  here  we  have  to  be  guided  by 
the  religious  laws  of  justice  and  benevolence,  and  by  the  remem- 
brance that  the  ultimate  end  of  all  human  action  is  the  glory  of  God 
and  the  salvation  of  souls.  We  require  the  blessing  of  God  on  our 
temporal  as  well  as  our  spiritual  affairs,  on  public  as  well  as  on  pri- 
vate life,  in  order  to  ensure  a  happy  result;  and,  if  we  would  gain 
this  blessing,  it  is  necessary  that  we  conform  ourselves  to  the  law 
revealed  to  us  in  religion.  A  social  revolution  has  been  in  progress 
during  the  whole  of  the  Christian  era.  Under  the  influence  of  re- 
ligion each  step  was  accomplished  gradually  and  peaceably,  without 
disturbing  established  order.  So  took  place  the  abolition  of  slavery 
first,  and  then  of  serfage ;  the  formation  of  Christendom  out  of  un- 
tutored hordes  of  barbarians,  the  establishment  of  popular  liberties. 
The  changes  that  are  now  threatening  are  not  more  extreme  than 
those  which  are  past,  and  they  ought  to  be  equally  beneficial  to  so- 
ciety in  general.  But  unchristian  methods  of  advocacy,  and  un- 
christian methods  of  opposition,  have  between  them  created  dangers 
which  do  not  belong  to  these  changes  themselves. 

2.   Besides  this  general  connection  of  Christianity  with  social  af- 


396 


THE  CREED. 


fairs,  there  is  also  a  special  connection  with  Socialism.  The  prin- 
ciples expressed  by  Socialists  had  their  first  origin  in  Christianity. 
The  object  aimed  at  is  not  very  different  from  that  which  is  pro- 
posed in  the  Gospel  in  general  terms.  Such  errors  as  there  may  be 
in  contemporary  Socialism  are  mostly  in  the  details  by  which  men 
seek  to  reduce  the  principles  to  practice.  Christianity  does  not  sup- 
ply the  working  details,  but  it  originated  the  ideas  of  liberty,  equality 
and  fraternity ;  it  has  given  us  the  truth  which  makes  us  free  (John 
vii,  32)  ;  it  has  brought  us  into  "the  liberty  of  the  glory  of  the  chil- 
dren of  God"  (Rom.  viii,  21),  it  acknowledges  no  distinction  of 
nationality  and  respect  for  persons,  it  declares  fraternal  charity  to 
be  the  "bond  of  perfection"  and  the  "fulfilling  of  the  law"  (Col.  iii, 
14;  Rom.  xiii,  10). 

The  immediate  effect  of  these  principles  was  the  birth  of  a  volun- 
tary Socialism  in  the  early  Church.  "All  they  that  believed  were  to- 
gether, and  had  all  things  in  common.  Their  possessions  and  goods 
they  sold,  and  divided  them  all,  according  as  every  one  had  need" 
(Acts  ii,  44-45).  This  was  carried  on  and  developed  by  the  hermits 
in  their  deserts,  and  later  in  the  monasteries  and  convents.  In  these 
there  was  perfect  equality.  All  worldly  inequalities  were  obliterated ; 
there  was  no  distinction  but  that  of  the  necessary  offices,  conferred 
by  election  on  account  of  special  capacity.  Any  one  might  rise  to 
the  highest  position.  All  worked  for  the  community,  and  the  com- 
munity awarded  to  each  what  was  sufficient,  and  supported  its  mem- 
bers in  age  and  illness.  All  property  was  in  common.  They  were 
submissive,  as  social  order  demands' ;  but  this  was  a  supreme  exercise 
of  Christian  liberty,  subduing  self  and  will  to  the  law  of  perfection 
in  Jesus  Christ,  and  giving  them  mastery  over  those  passions  which 
are  the  tyrants  of  men. 

This  is  the  highest  ideal  of  Christian  life.  The  Church  has  never 
put  it  forward  as  necessary,  or  even  as  useful  for  all  mankind;  it 
would  be  inconsistent  with  certain  of  the  duties  that  must  be  per- 
formed by  the  majority  of  men,  and  it  involves  a  sacrifice  of  natural 
rights  which  can  not  be  commanded  but  must  be  spontaneous.  But 
there  is  nothing  to  be  said  against  those  who  would  take  certain 
features  of  the  ideal  Christian  society,  train  men  to  see  their  advan- 
tages, and  adapt  them  by  legal  means  to  the  conditions  of  every-day 
life.  In  such  a  work  the  Catholic  Church  must  be  the  principal  au- 
thority and  guide.  She  has  real  experience  of  Socialism  in  its  re- 
ligious form;  she  has  evolved  a  system  which  has  succeeded  per- 


SOCIALISM  AND  CHRISTIANITY.  397 

fectly;  and  she  can  judge  dispassionately  of  the  limitations  which 
must  be  placed  upon  it  in  order  to  guard  natural  rights.  Irresponsi- 
ble amateurs,  however  full  of  the  enthusiasm  of  humanity,  however 
indignant  at  human  wrongs,  can  never  have  practical  wisdom  to 
devise,  or  power  to  establish  a  new  social  system,  without  the  aid  of 
that  Church  which  alone  founded,  and  still  chiefly  inspires,  western 
civilization. 

3.  There  is  still  more  in  the  spirit  and  the  legislation  of  the  Church 
that  favors  the  Socialist's  ideals  of  the  equality  and  brotherhood  of 
all  men,  and  restrains  excessive  accumulation  by  the  powerful  to  the 
disadvantages  of  the  weaker  classes.  ( I )  The  Church  admits  no  dis- 
tinction of  person  before  the  altar  of  God.  It  would  be  abhorrent  to 
her  to  fence  off  a  part  of  a  church  like  a  cage,  for  human  beings, 
to  separate  inferiors  from  their  betters,  and  degrade  them  even  at 
prayer.  (2)  The  Church  taught  the  wealthy  that  they  held  their 
property  in  trust  for  God  and  the  poor.  St.  Philip  Neri  said,  "The 
rich  man  is  the  natural  prey  of  the  poor."  (3)  She  encouraged 
these  grand  works  of  munificence,  so  seldom  imitated  now,  by  which 
enormous  amounts  of  property  were  given  over  for  the  benefit 
of  the  poor  or  the  general  community.  (4)  The  wasteful  con- 
sumption of  wealth  for  selfish  uses  was  at  times  restrained  by 
sumptuary  laws.  It  is  an  antiquated  contrivance,  but  it  suited  the 
times  and  served  a  very  useful  purpose.  (5)  The  stringent  laws 
against  interest  on  money  lent,  unsuitable  to  an  age  of  vast  and 
intricate  commercial  dealings,  were  necessary  to  protect  the  small 
landowner  from  being  enslaved  and  devoured  by  swindling  usurers. 
(6)  There  were  laws,  too,  against  forestalling;  against  those  great 
monopolies  of  some  article  which  are  found  so  effectual  at  the 
present  day  for  the  heaping  up  of  sudden  and  enormous  fortunes 
and  which  will  dislocate  trade,  destroy  confidence,  ruin  many,  and 
reduce  the  small  earnings  of  the  poor.  (7)  Further,  the  Church 
secured  fair  treatment  for  the  working  classes  by  organizing  labor 
in  religious  guilds  and  by  pointing  out  the  grievous  sin  of  oppress- 
ing the  poor,  defrauding  laborers  of  their  wages,  and  taking  ad- 
vantage of  the  extreme  necessity  of  others  to  one's  own  profit.  (8) 
Finally  there  was  the  continual  impulse  to  self-sacrifice  in  the  service 
of  the  needy,  which  induced  multitudes  to  devote  their  whole  lives 
to  it;  and  the  insistence  on  the  necessity  of  almsgiving  transferred 
to  the  poor  a  large  share  in  these  goods  and  fortune  which  they 
could  not  earn  for  themselves. 


398 


THE   CREED. 


III.  It  is  obvious  that  if  these  provisions  of  the  Church's  law  were 
carried  out  constantly  and  on  a  large  scale,  they  would  so  far  ameli- 
orate the  condition  of  the  poor  as  to  leave  them  little  cause  for  com- 
plaining against  the  unequal  division  of  temporal  goods.  It  was  this 
kind  of  teaching,  slowly  filtering  down  through  all  the  strata  of  so- 
ciety, that  worked  the  great  social  revolutions  of  the  earlier  ages; 
and  it  would  have  gone  on  with  its  work  of  social  development  if  it 
had  not  been  checked  in  later  centuries  by  the  Renaissance,  the 
Reformation,  and  the  anti-Christian  elements  in  modern  Revolution. 
But  the  Christian  Church  has  had  to  fight  for  bare  existence;  she 
has  been  almost  overwhelmed  by  persecution  and  heresy,  infidelity 
and  corruption ;  her  field  of  labor  has  been  ramaged,  her  work  inter- 
rupted and  carried  on  piecemeal  and  almost  by  stealth  in  different 
countries. 

It  was  the  weak  and  the  poor  who  suffered  principally  by  these 
catastrophies ;  for  the  Church  was  always  their  friend  and  protector, 
and  it  was  they  who  profited  chiefly  by  the  restraints  on  selfishness, 
extravagance  and  greed  for  wealth.  Their  condition  has  been  and 
is  actually  growing  worse  and  worse  with  frightful  rapidity.  They 
have  lost  the  share  in  social  advantages  which  Christianity  assured 
to  them,  and  at  the  same  time  they  have  lost  those  spiritual  advan- 
tages of  belief  and  prayer  which  are  the  only  real  comfort  in  tem- 
poral misfortunes.  Their  lot  has  fallen  far  below  what  is  endur- 
able, and  hence  the  fierce  hatred  and  threatened  revolt  against  the 
system  of  society  which  has  crushed  them.  Ignorant  alike  of  Chris- 
tian and  economical  laws  and  their  restraints,  conscious  of  bitter 
wrongs,  taught  that  utility,  *.  e.,  gross  selfishness  is  the  law  of  prog- 
ress, and  that  life  is  a  struggle  to  maintain  oneself  by  crushing 
others,  the  multitudes,  having  long  suffered  under  these  principles 
are  now  using  them  for  their  own  advantage.  Socialism  in  various 
perverted  forms  is  the  means  proposed  to  them ;  and  they  welcome 
any  form  of  it,  however  impracticable  or  unchristian,  if  only  it 
promises  to  redress  the  balance  and  restore  to  them  their  rightful 
inheritance. 

Socialism  in  some  form  is  not  of  itself  necessarily  unchristian  or 
anti-social,  but  only  in  some  of  those  vagaries  which  beset  every 
great  movement,  and  which  fall  aside  as  fuller  light  is  cast  on  the 
subject.  But  it  is  an  uprising  of  the  popular  conscience  against 
those  false  maxims  of  the  world  which  have  obscured  certain  great 
religious  truths.  It  is  an  incoherent  demand  for  certain  Christian 


SOCIALISM  AND  CHRISTIANITY.  399 

rights  which  have  been  set  aside  by  pride  of  race,  and  of  class,  and 
by  the  inordinate  desire  of  riches.  Unfortunately,  in  many  instances, 
it  is  an  attempt  to  realize  the  results  of  Christianity  without  the 
spirit  of  Christianity.  It  sometimes  seeks  to  establish  by  paper  or- 
ganization and  minute  rules  those  relations  between  men  which  can 
only  proceed  from  heart  transformed  by  faith,  and  generosity,  and 
justice,  into  the  likeness  of  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  a  stirring  in  the  right 
direction,  but  unfortunately  by  the  wrong  methods.  We  should 
show  pity  to  the  disinherited  for  what  they  have  lost,  sympathy  with 
their  efforts  to  recover  it,  and  give  practical  aid  in  pointing  out 
their  errors  and  helping  them  to  better  methods. 

The  Church  of  Christ  has  a  double  function.  It  is  a  great  re- 
ligious force  and  is  a  great  social  force.  It  regulates  our  relations 
to  God,  and  through  them  our  relations  with  our  earthly  surround- 
ings. The  spiritual  message  has  been  rejected  by  large  bodies  as 
being  opposed  to  immediate  material  interests  and  the  pleasures  of 
the  passions.  But  the  message  of  social  regeneration  has  retained 
its  hold  on  all  men,  and  they  are  constantly  endeavoring,  though 
blindly,  to  realize  it.  It  is  their  misfortune  to  be  ignorant  that  social 
order  is  the  branch,  and  that  religion  is  the  trunk  of  the  tree  from 
which  it  springs,  and  that  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  is  the  root.  Hence 
it  is  that  so  many  well-meant  experts  fail  to  establish  harmony  of 
classes,  agreement  of  different  races,  proper  distribution  of  wealth, 
secure  governments  of  liberty  without  license,  authority  without 
tyranny.  The  same  error  would  nullify  any  schemes  of  social  re- 
form, and  perhaps  make  them  more  noxious  to  society  than  the  evils 
they  are  expected  to  cure.  The  rapid  extension  of  the  Catholic 
Church  and  the  renewal  of  her  vigor,  together  with  the  prominent 
action  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs  in  social  matters,  give  us  reason  to 
hope  that  the  evolution  of  the  former  social  system  will  be  in  accord- 
ance with  the  divine  law  and  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ.  This  alone 
will  insure  its  success.  For  it  is  true  not  only  of  the  spiritual  edi- 
fice, but  also  of  the  social  edifice,  that  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  "is  the 
stone  which  was  rejected  by  you,  the  builders,  which  is  become  the 
head  of  the  corner.  Neither  is  there  salvation  in  any  other.  For 
there  is  no  other  name  under  heaven  given  to  men  whereby  we  must 
be  saved"  (Acts  iv,  11, 12). 


400  THE  CREED. 


XLVII.    SUPERSTITION  IN  PRACTICES  OF  FAITH. 

BY  THE  REV.   THOS.   F.   BURKE,  C.S.P. 

SYNOPSIS. — /.     The  word  superstition.    Its  meaning  among  non-Catholics 
and  among  Catholics.    False  notions.    Natural  superstitions. 

II.  We  are  to  consider  those  superstitions  that  sometimes  intrude 
themselves  into  practices  of  faith.   Possibility  of  this  sin  does  not  argue  to 
its  prevalence. 

III.  Superstition  in  the  abuse  of  sacramentals. 

IV.  Superstition  in  the  abuse  of  the  principle  of  saintly  intercession. 

V.  Superstition  in  unlawful  attempts  to  probe  into  the  future. 

VI.  Conclusion. — The  principle,  observance   of  which  will  render 
superstition  impossible. 

I.  Superstition  is  a  word  that  has  been  much  tampered  with, 
because  it  can  be  made  to  mean  so  many  things.  Its  meaning  de- 
pends largely  upon  the  viewpoint  of  the  speaker  or  writer.  To  the 
unbeliever,  for  example,  all  Christians  in  their  beliefs  and  religious 
customs  are  superstitious.  To  the  Christian  who  is  not  a  Catholic, 
the  man  who  believes  in  the  Real  Presence  of  Christ,  who  bends  the 
knee  before  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  who  prays  before  the  images  of 
the  saints,  who  wears  the  scapular,  who  honors  the  crucifix,  is  su- 
perstitious. All  may  agree  upon  the  technical  definition  of  the  word, 
but,  outside  the  Catholic  Church  there  are  many  varieties  in  the  in- 
terpretation of  that  definition,  because  there  are  many  varieties  of 
belief. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  too,  the  word  is  used  even  among  Catholics 
both  in  a  broader  and  narrower  sense.  In  the  former  acceptance  of 
the  word  it  signifies  all  false  worship,  whether  the  error  be  found 
to  lie  in  the  object  to  which  honor  is  given  or  in  the  incorrect  man- 
ner of  worshiping  the  true  God.  The  heathen,  amid  the  wilds  of 
the  uncivilized  portions  of  the  earth  or  in  the  unchanged  civiliza- 
tions of  the  past,  bowing  before  his  idols  of  wood  and  stone  or  hon- 
oring with  divine  worship  the  celestial  orb  of  light  is,  in  a  true  and 
real  sense,  guilty  of  superstition.  Likewise,  the  believer  in  the  true 
God,  who  worshiping  God,  nevertheless  refuses  to  worship  in  the 
manner  prescribed  by  God  Himself  as  indicated  in  His  own  Word 
or  in  the  voice  of  His  Church,  is  rightly  considered  guilty  of  super- 
stition. 


SUPERSTITION  IN  PRACTICES  OF  FAITH.  401 

With  the  consideration  of  the  sin  in  this  sense  we  are  not  at 
present  concerned,  nor  are  we  concerned  with  those  objections 
against  the  Catholic  faith  which  are  made  by  men  who  wrongly  call 
superstitions  those  beliefs  and  practices  which  we  know  to  be  sanc- 
tioned by  God  and  the  teachings  of  the  Church  and  reason  itself. 
Nor  is  it  our  intention  to  concern  ourselves  with  those  remnants  of 
paganism,  those  natural  superstitions  which  are  found  the  world 
over  in  many  popular  and  local  customs.  They  are  none  the  less 
to  be  condemned;  none  the  less  to  be  eradicated  from  our  lives. 
Oftentimes  the  very  one  who  is  all  too  ready  to  detect  superstition  in 
the  devotion  of  a  soul  to  its  patron  saint,  will  give  a  perhaps  un- 
conscious and  perhaps  unprofessed  assent  to  the  very  commonest 
of  superstitious  ideas.  To  consider  Friday  an  unlucky  day,  or  as 
a  day  unfit  for  the  starting  of  a  journey;  to  refuse  to  be  one  of 
thirteen  to  sit  at  a  table ;  to  consider  it  unlucky  to  break  a  mirror ; 
to  place  a  horseshoe  over  the  door  for  good  luck ;  to  find  in  charms, 
such  as  a  four-leaved  clover,  assurances  of  good  fortune,  these  are 
but  a  few  of  the  multitude  of  superstitions  in  which  the  popular 
fancy  indulges  and  which  are  unworthy  of  an  intelligent  being. 

2.  Rather  we  are  to  consider  those  superstitions  which  may  at 
times  accompany  practices  of  faith.  Such  superstitions  are  the  de- 
generation of  true  belief;  they  are  the  excrescences  of  faith  itself. 
They  argue  not  the  absence  of  faith,  but  rather  its  presence,  and 
also  its  abuse.  It  is  not  useless  that  we  should  be  warned  against 
them,  for  it  is  ever  incumbent  upon  us  to  keep  our  religion  pure 
and  undefiled.  As  it  is  necessary  to  remove  the  growths  that  cling 
to  the  hull  of  a  vessel,  that  the  vessel  itself  may  not  suffer  injury 
nor  its  usefulness  and  speed  be  affected,  so  is  it  required  that  we 
keep  the  ship  of  faith  free  from  those  abuses  that  would  degrade  and 
defile  it. 

We  may  say  that  superstition  consists  in  ascribing  to  created 
things  powers  which  they  do  not  possess,  either  by  nature  or  in 
virtue  of  the  prayers  of  the  Church.  With  this  definition  kept 
clearly  and  substantially  before  our  minds,  we  can  see  how,  unless 
they  realize  constantly  the  prerogatives  of  God  and  the  supernatural 
character  of  religion,  some  of  the  faithful  may  fall  into  superstitious 
practices.  It  must  be  borne  in  mind,  however,  that  while  we  admit 
the  possibility  of  this  sin  among  the  faithful,  we  by  no  means  admit 
it  to  be  so  general  as  many  of  the  opponents  of  the  Church  would 
say.  Many  have  not  hesitated  to  charge  whole  peoples  with  it; 


402  THE  CREED. 

but  such  a  charge  is  unfounded  and  springs  either  from  prejudice 
or  ignorance.  As  a  rule  it  is  from  a  lack  of  knowledge  that  the 
charge  is  begotten.  Mistaking  the  true  character  of  the  peoples  in 
question,  mistaking  their  familiarity  with  religious  things  for  a  con- 
tempt of  religious  things,  mistaking  their  expressions  of  fervid  de- 
votion for  sinful  exaggerations,  mistaking  the  outward  act  and  de- 
meanor for  the  expression  of  something  which  does  not  really  exist 
within  the  soul,  these  objectors  jump  at  conclusions  which  are  any- 
thing but  complimentary  to  the  subjects  they  dissect.  We  speak 
not  therefore  of  seeming  superstition,  but  of  that  superstition  which 
is  real  and  therefore  sinful,  a  thing  which  is  as  much  condemned 
by  God  as  is  the  sin  of  theft  or  of  adultery. 

3.  There  are  some  phases  of  Catholic  practice  and  devotion  in 
which,  more  than  others,  this  perversion  of  faith  which  is  called  su- 
perstition is  liable  to  appear.  The  first  of  these,  at  which  we  may 
glance,  is  the  matter  of  the  sacramentals.  These  are  in  themselves 
useful  and  proper;  but  that  they  may  be  both,  they  must  be  em- 
ployed with  a  knowledge  of  their  character  and  of  the  object  for 
which  they  are  sanctioned.  Christ  Himself  instituted  certain  means 
of  grace,  means  that  infallibly  impart  grace  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
to  the  soul  when  they  are  sought  with  the  necessary  conditions  ful- 
filled. These  we  call  Sacraments.  To  attribute  to  any  of  the  sacra- 
mentals  a  power  such  as  the  Sacraments  possess  would  be  super- 
stition, for  it  is  from  the  prayers  of  the  Church  and  not  directly  from 
God  that  these  means  of  devotion  derive  their  value.  The  blessing 
used  by  the  priest  in  setting  apart  certain  things  thus  rendered  sacred, 
is  given  in  the  name  of  the  Church  and  does  not  take  to  itself  any 
power  that  is  divine.  The  sign  of  the  Cross,  the  crucifix,  the  rosary, 
the  scapular,  medals,  the  ashes  at  the  beginning  of  Lent,  the  palms 
on  Palm  Sunday,  all  these  have  their  legitimate  purposes,  good  and 
holy.  They  serve  to  incite  devotion ;  to  increase,  when  lawfully  em- 
ployed, the  love  of  God  in  the  soul;  to  fulfil  the  special  purposes 
for  which  they  were  instituted  by  the  Church;  but  when  some  at- 
tribute them  to  a  greater  efficacy  than  they  possess  in  the  mind  of  the 
Church  or  could  possess,  they  are  guilty  of  giving  to  them  a  super- 
stitious value.  Let  us  cite  a  few  abuses  sometimes  found  among 
those  who  are  indeed  filled  with  faith,  but  who  in  certain  practices 
go  to  a  sinful  excess.  To  wear,  for  example,  a  crucifix  or  a  medal 
or  the  scapular  in  the  belief  that  it  is  a  kind  of  charm  that  will  of 
itself  protect  the  wearer  from  harm,  from  death  by  accident,  or  fire, 


SUPERSTITION  IN  PRACTICES  OF  FAITH.  403 

or  drowning  and  so  on,  is  nothing  short  of  superstition.  It  is  seen 
that  not  the  wearing  of  these  but  the  wearing  of  them  with  the 
wrong  intention  is  what  makes  the  sin.  They  have  their  legitimate 
purposes,  and  when  the  wearer  is  in  thorough  accord  with  these 
they  serve  rather  as  helps  than  hindrances  to  the  true  spirit  of  de- 
votion and  religion.  We  can  not  be  too  careful  in  such  matters, 
for  to  allow  such  practices  to  degenerate  into  customs  akin  to  the 
idolatries  and  superstitions  of  the  pagans  is  to  bring  ridicule  and 
contumely  upon  the  true  Religion  from  those  who  are  but  too  ready 
to  detect  flaws  and  to  attribute  them  to  the  Church  itself.  At  the 
same  time  it  would  be  the  height  of  cowardice  and  folly  to  sacrifice 
one  jot  or  tittle  of  the  time-honored  devotions  or  sacred  customs 
or  holy  things  that  have  been  sanctioned  by  the  Church  and  are  in 
thorough  accord  with  the  natural  and  reasonable  demands  of  the 
soul. 

4.  Another  principle  of  Catholic  faith  which,  through  its  abuse, 
sometimes  has  degenerated,  in  individual  cases,  and  may  at  times 
degenerate  into  superstition,  is  that  of  the  intercession  of  the  saints. 
Our  belief  in  this  matter  is  as  simply  stated  as  it  is  thoroughly 
reasonable.  We  look  upon, the  holy  ones  of  God,  who  have  fought 
the  battle  of  life  unto  victory,  who  live  with  Christ  in  heaven,  as 
souls  who  can  pray  for  us,  who  can  intercede  with  God  for  our  wel- 
fare. If  we  do  not  hesitate  to  ask  those  upon  earth,  and  especially 
those  who  lead  good  lives,  to  pray  for  us ;  if  the  prayer  of  the  just 
man,  even  in  the  time  of  our  earthly  pilgrimage,  availeth  much, 
surely  it  is  not  a  violation  of  any  right  of  God  nor  a  derogation 
from  His  powers  to  suppose  that  the  saints  may  likewise  pray  for 
us.  Superstition  however  arises  from  attributing  to  the  saints  a 
power  that  is  the  possession  of  God  alone  and  from  the  expectation 
that  they  personally  will  grant  favors  and  answers  to  petitions 
which  it  is  within  the  power  of  Divinity  alone  to  bestow.  Many 
spurious  prayers  are  circulated  in  which  the  language  is  such  that 
it  can  be  considered  only  as  fostering  superstition.  When  we  are 
told,  for  example,  that  the  recital  of  such  a  prayer,  or  its  recital 
at  fixed  times,  or  a  special  number  of  times  or  days,  will  infallibly 
obtain  from  the  saint  to  whom  it  is  addressed  the  favor  asked; 
when  it  is  believed  that  the  swallowing  of  papers  containing  the 
pictures  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  or  another  of  the  saints  will  infallibly 
work  a  cure  of  disease;  when  we  are  informed  that  certain  ex- 
travagant and  impossible  promises  will  be  infallibly  fulfilled  through 


THE  CREED. 

prayers  to  the  saints,  we  are,  beyond  doubt,  in  the  region  of  super- 
stition, for  such  things  are  nothing  but  the  giving  to  creatures  that 
which  is  the  prerogative  of  God  alone.  Lately,  I  remember  meet- 
ing an  instance  of  this  kind  which  will  serve  as  a  warning.  A 
prayer  was  circulated  with  preposterous  conditions  attached.  The 
recipient  was  to  recite  the  prayer  a  fixed  number  of  times,  but  fur- 
ther, was  to  send  it  to  nine  other  persons  with  the  same  instruc- 
tions. These  details  were  to  be  followed  under  penalty  of  dire  pun- 
ishment if  not  performed.  This  is  nothing  but  the  grossest  super- 
stition and  should  be,  with  all  things  like  it,  discountenanced  and 
discouraged  by  every  Catholic  that  loves  his  faith  and  his  Church. 

5.  Divine  power,  again,  is  attributed  to  things  created,  and  con- 
sequently there  exists  the  sin  of  superstition,  when  from  other 
sources  than  God  Himself  a  knowledge  of  the  future  is  sought.  The 
future  belongs  to  God  and  to  God  alone.  He  may  reveal  it,  and  may 
reveal  it  in  any  manner  He  pleases.  There  can  be  no  question,  judg- 
ing from  historical  incidents  and  facts  in  the  lives  of  the  saints  and 
in  the  records  of  religion  from  the  beginning,  that  God  has  some- 
times made  known  things  beyond  the  present.  Nor  would  it  be  sin- 
ful for  anyone  to  seek  such  a  knowledge  from  God,  if  it  be  sought 
with  spiritual  motives  and  for  the  sake  of  the  soul.  When,  however, 
it  is  sought  in  any  other  way,  the  seeker  is  guilty  of  superstition. 
One  of  the  prevalent  practices  of  this  sort,  existing  among  the  edu- 
cated as  well  as  the  uneducated  classes,  is  the  consultation  of  for- 
tune-tellers, who,  by  this  or  that  means,  profess  to  be  able  to  reveal 
the  future  of  our  lives.  The  mysterious  probing  into  time  yet  un- 
born, to  bring  forth  its  products,  seems  to  have  a  fascination  for 
many  minds  and  to  lead  them  easily  astray  from  the  dictates  of 
common  sense.  It  is  this  craving  for  the  knowledge  of  the  future 
that  leads  people  to  consult  not  only  the  fortune-teller,  but  also  the 
mediums  of  spiritism  and  other  vagaries.  It  is  just  here,  in  the 
midst  of  the  subtle  workings  of  the  human  mind  that  is  ever  seeking 
the  solution  of  the  mysterious,  that  there  is  evident  the  need  of  an 
authoritative  voice  to  say  what  are  and  what  are  not  the  proper 
methods  to  be  employed  in  the  search.  It  is  because  of  the  absence 
of  such  an  authority  outside  the  Church  that  we  find  that  these 
forms  of  superstition  are  far  more  prevalent  among  non-Catholics 
than  among  Catholics.  In  the  divinely  instituted  Church,  appointed 
by  Christ  to  be  the  palpable  spiritual  guide  for  man  upon  earth,  we 
have  a  protecting  power  that  secures  us  and  guards  us  from  errors 


SUPERSTITION  IN  PRACTICES  OF  FAITH.  405 

that  might  otherwise  attract.  And  it  is  this  very  thing  that  renders 
delinquencies  of  this  character  graver  when  committed  by  the  Cath- 
olic than  when  indulged  in  by  those  who  have  no  teacher  upon 
whom  they  may  depend.  The  spiritual  knowledge  given,  the 
spiritual  care  bestowed,  the  numerous  means  for  spiritual  advance- 
ment sanctioned  by  the  Catholic  Church  are  all-sufficient  for  the  life 
of  the  soul.  To  the  one  that  appreciates  all  these  at  their  full  worth, 
and  that  uses  them  in  the  proper  way,  there  is  no  need  of  the  su- 
perstitious invention  of  the  human  mind. 

6.  In  this  consideration  of  the  subject  we  have  but  touched  upon 
some  of  the  sins  of  this  class  against  the  virtue  of  faith;  nor  is 
more  necessary.  For,  after  all,  there  is  but  question  of  one  of  the 
very  fundamental  principles  of  religion.  If  that  principle  be  duly  un- 
derstood, and  there  is  nothing  simpler,  there  need  be  no  danger 
of  the  sin.  The  principle  is  that  the  power  which  belongs  to  God 
alone  must  not  be  attributed  to  a  creature.  The  earth,  all  created 
nature  of  itself  gives  glory  to  God;  and  as  such  may  be  used  by 
man  to  express  his  worship  for  his  Maker.  But  nature  and  all 
things  thus  employed  must  be  truly  subservient  to  the  idea  of  wor- 
ship, the  internal  sense  of  worship,  existent  in  the  soul  and  heart 
of  man.  As  the  love  of  one  human  being  for  another  which  has  its 
home  within  and  may  be  properly  expressed  in  outward  action,  de- 
generates into  sin  when  expressed  in  an  inordinate  manner,  so  too 
our  worship  of  the  true  God,  while  having  its  legitimate  external 
manifestation,  sinks  into  the  basest  superstition  when  it  is  external- 
ized in  unseemly  and  improper  ways. 

Knowing  the  true  principles  and  aware  of  the  dangers  of  de- 
generation in  worship,  it  is  for  us,  each  and  all,  to  keep  within  our 
own  souls,  and  to  secure  from  others,  a  great  respect  for  our 
faith,  by  preserving  it  altogether  free  from  superstitious  practices. 


406 


THE   CREED. 


XLVIII.    THE  UNIVERSAL  FITNESS  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REV.  JAMES  BELLORD,  D.D. 

"In  the  days  of  these  kingdoms  the  God  of  Heaven  will  set  up  a  kingdom 
that  shall  never  be  destroyed,  and  his  kingdom  shall  not  be  delivered  up  to 
another  people,  and  it  shall  break  in  pieces  and  shall  consume  all  these  king- 
doms, and  itself  shall  stand  forever." — Dan.  ii,  44. 

SYNOPSIS.— I.     The  king's  dream;  its  interpretation;  its  fulfilment. 

II.  Change  and  progress  leading  to  decay  and  death  a  law  of  na- 
ture, e.  g.,  all  human  institutions,  all  philosophies.    Progress  in  the  mani- 
festation  of  God's  Providence   to   man. 

III.  The  world  now  in  the  stage  of  manhood.     Further  develop- 
ments sure  to  come  in  the  physical  order.     Christ's  Church  final  as  seen 
from  its  character;  the  prophecies  and  words  of  institution.     It  pos- 
sesses the  Holy  Spirit  and  Christ  Himself,  therefore  it  is  adaptable  to 
the  needs  of  all  nations  and  of  all  times. 

IV.  The  mission  of  the  Church  brings  with  it  the  grace  to  fulfil 
that  work.    No  new  and  continuous  miracle  needed.    Just  the  action  of 
its  God-given  nature.    History  as  well  as  Scripture  a  very  strong  proof 
that  the  Catholic  Church  is  the  Church  of  God.     Comparison  with  Ma- 
homedanism  and  Buddhism.     The  Church  does  not  enslave  the  ignorant 
children  of  her  flock.     One  conclusion.    She  is  supported  by  God. 

I.  Long  ages  ago  a  great  king  of  the  East,  Nabuchodonosor,  "was 
thinking  on  his  bed  of  what  should  come  to  pass  in  the  future,  and 
it  pleased  God  to  reveal  it  to  him  in  a  vision.  There  appeared  before 
him  a  great  figure  of  terrible  aspect ;  its  head  was  of  fine  gold,  the 
breast  and  the  arms  of  silver,  the  belly  and  thighs  of  brass,  the  legs  of 
iron,  the  feet  half  iron  and  half  clay.  Then  a  stone  cut  without  hands 
from  a  mountain  struck  the  statue,  which  immediately  crumbled  into 
dust  and  was  carried  away  by  the  wind ;  the  stone  grew  into  a  moun- 
tain and  filled  the  whole  earth.  According  to  the  explanation  of  the 
prophet  Daniel  the  figure  represented  the  great  empires  of  an- 
tiquity, and  the  stone  was  to  be  a  great,  eternal  and  universal  king- 
dom established  by  God  Himself.  That  kingdom  was  to  be  in  this 
world,  and  yet  not  of  this  world ;  for  all  that  is  of  this  world  must 
of  necessity  pass  away.  The  Catholic  Church  alone  fulfils  the 
prophecy.  There  have  been  other  kingdoms  of  almost  worldwide 
extent,  but  they  have  not  endured.  Only  one  has  been  at  the  same 
time  universal,  and  permanent,  and  established  by  the  hand  of  God ; 


THE  UNIVERSAL  FITNESS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  407 

that  one  is  the  Catholic  Church,  and  it  stands  without  a  com- 
petitor. 

Five  centuries  after  that  vision  the  Son  of  God  came  on  earth. 
He  established  His  kingdom,  and  declared  the  fulfilment  of  the  old 
prophecy  in  terms  that  correspond  to  those  used  by  Daniel.  His 
Church  was  to  be  the  sole  one.  "There  shall  be  one  fold  and  one 
shepherd"  (John  x,  16).  It  was  to  be  for  every  land:  "Going  there- 
fore teach  ye  all  nations"  (Matt,  xxviii,  19).  It  was  to  last  for- 
ever: "Behold,  I  am  with  you  all  days,  even  to  the  consummation 
of  the  world"  (Matt,  xxviii,  20).  It  was  to  be  proof  against  the 
destructive  forces  of  violence,  falsehood  and  corruption :  "The  gates 
of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it"  (Matt,  xvi,  18). 

These  prerogatives  constitute  the  Catholicity,  *.  e.t  the  universality 
of  the  Church,  which  is  one  of  the  four  great  marks  by  which  she 
is  designated  in  prophecy  and  distinguished  in  history.  Of  all  the 
qualities  of  the  Church  of  Jesus  Christ  this  one  is  so  pre-eminent 
and  so  markedly  her  own,  that  it  has  given  her  the  name  by  which 
she  is  known  in  the  world.  While  others  are  called  the  church  of 
this  or  that  country,  or  named  after  their  founders,  like  Mahomed- 
anism  and  Calvinism,  the  proper  name  of  Christ's  Church,  the  name 
which  ephemeral  sects  have  vainly  tried  to  wrest  from  her,  has  al- 
ways been  the  Universal  Church,  i.  e.,  the  Catholic  Church.  . 

The  accomplishment  of  Daniel's  prophecy  is  grand  and  im- 
posing as  the  vision  of  the  great  king  which  he  interpreted.  Na- 
buchodonosor  was  stricken  with  awe  and  troubled  in  mind  when 
he  saw  the  stone,  cut  without  hands,  destroy  the  statue  and  fill  the 
whole  earth.  The  foes  of  the  Catholic  Church  would  do  well  to 
imitate  him,  to  consider  the  wonderful  facts  before  them,  and  in- 
quire into  their  meaning.  The  universal  existence  of  the  Church 
is  the  greatest  historical  fact  in  the  period  between  the  Ascension  of 
Our  Lord  and  the  present  day.  Wherever  the  student  of  the  past 
roves  in  his  investigations  the  Church  is  ever  before  him,  like  an  all- 
pervading  presence.  In  every  great  question  of  our  own  days,  the 
philosopher,  the  statesman,  the  man  of  science,  meet  the  Catholic 
Church  face  to  face,  and  have  to  reckon  with  her.  In  every  land  the 
Church  has  taken  root  and  flourished,  not  with  the  artificial  life 
of  the  exotic,  but  as  if  a  native  of  the  climate  and  a  product  of  the 
soil.  The  path  of  history  leads  us  through  countless  ruins  and  the 
graves  of  the  mighty  dead.  Not  only  the  empires  seen  by  Nabucho- 
donosor,  but  many  others  have  grown,  held  sway,  and  fallen  into 


4o8  THE   CREED. 

darkest  oblivion.  The  dominion  of  a  line  of  kings  or  of  some  great 
republic  has  run  on  for  a  thousand  years  till  men  thought  it  well- 
nigh  immortal,  and  then  has  vanished  like  a  cloud  in  the  summer 
sky.  Languages  have  died  out,  civilizations  have  come  to  maturity, 
disappeared  before  a  flood  of  barbarism,  and  revived  again.  Races 
of  men  have  passed  away.  New  worlds  have  been  created  by  dis- 
covery and  the  overflow  from  old  countries.  Again  and  again  the 
whole  aspect  of  the  earth  has  been  renewed.  And  while  all  things 
come  and  go,  one  majestic  figure  remains,  surviving  all  catastro- 
phes, the  same  under  every  sky,  speaking  the  language  of  every  na- 
tion, yet  compelled  to  have  one  language  of  her  own,  on  account  of 
her  own  universal  unchanging  existence  and  the  changing  forms 
of  all  things  else.  This  grandeur  of  the  Church  has  forced  an 
enemy  to  acknowledge  in  one  of  the  best  known  passages  of  Eng- 
lish literature,  that  she  will  live  on  when  the  greatest  works  of  our 
civilization  have  crumbled  to  dust.  In  the  same  sense  we  may  apply 
the  words  of  the  psalmist:  "They  shall  perish  but  thou  remainest; 
and  all  of  them  shall  grow  old  as  a  garment ;  and  as  a  vesture  thou 
shalt  change  them  and  they  shall  be  changed.  But  thou  art  always 
the  self-same  and  thy  years  shall  not  fail.  The  children  of  thy 
servants  shall  continue,  and  their  seed  shall  be  directed  for  ever" 
(Ps.  ci,  27-29). 

So  far  we  have  been  considering  the  material  Universality  of  the 
Church,  the  mere  fact  of  her  existence  in  all  times  and  all  places. 
This  is  only  one  aspect  of  the  matter,  and  it  would  be  of  little  ac- 
count were  not  the  Church  universal  in  another  and  a  higher  sense, 
in  the  sense  of  enjoying  a  special  fitness  and  suitableness  to  every 
age,  every  race,  and  every  country  of  the  world.  This  is  the  most 
important  element  in  the  Catholicity  of  the  Church;  it  is  a  more 
evident  argument  of  her  divinity  than  even  her  world-wide  exist- 
ence; it  places  her  more  decisively  outside  the  class  of  simply  hu- 
man institutions. 

II.  The  natural  course  of  all  things  in  this  world  is  to  grow  vig- 
orously for  a  time  till  they  reach  their  prime  to  do  their  work,  and 
then  fall  into  decrepitude,  decay  and  extinction.  Long  before  they 
actually  leave  the  world  of  existence  they  have  virtually  left  it 
by  becoming  unfit  for  their  purpose,  useless  and  obstructive.  All 
living  things  have  in  them  the  seeds  of  dissolution.  But  there  is  a 
force  outside  them  which  is  more  fatal  still,  and  that  is  the  always 
active  principle  of  Progress.  The  world  goes  on  and  leaves  them 


THE  UNIVERSAL  FITNESS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  409 

behind.  This  is  a  sacred  law  impressed  on  the  world  by  its  Cre- 
ator; it  is  a  law  of  life  and  at  the  same  time  a  cause  of  death.  In 
order  that  life  may  go  on  continuously,  whether  in  the  material 
universe,  or  in  the  world  of  human  society,  in  order  to  prevent 
stagnation,  which  would  be  death,  there  must  be  changes;  those 
things  that  have  done  their  work  must  be  moved  out  of  the  way, 
other  beings  must  come  forth  adapted  to  the  new  conditions ;  these 
keep  pace  for  awhile  with  the  general  life,  and  then  in  turn  lag 
behind  and  die.  No  earthly  thing  can  keep  up  with  progress; 
nothing  can  stem  its  advance;  nothing  can  resist  the  destruction 
which  it  brings.  So  does  the  sun  maintain  the  continuity  of  vege- 
tation by  ever  giving  life  and  inflicting  death.  Its  light  and  warmth 
call  forth  each  spring  new  generations  of  flowers,  which  day  by  day 
increase  in  size  and  beauty.  But  the  unfaltering  daily  course  of 
the  sun,  and  its  increasing  heat  are  too  much  for  the  endurance  and 
frail  life  of  the  flower ;  it  can  not  keep  up  the  race ;  and  long  before 
the  first  blasts  of  winter  it  has  withered  and  dropped  from  its  stalk, 
scattered  by  the  same  sunbeams  which  had  charmed  it  into  life. 

Of  all  human  institutions,  however  venerable  by  age  and  origin, 
however  protected  by  the  reverence  of  mankind,  not  one  is  im- 
mortal. Forms  of  government  and  systems  of  philosophy,  the  con- 
jectures of  science  and  habits  of  life,  all  are  constructions  of  the 
human  mind  and  are  subject  to  its  limitations.  They  are  adapted 
to  wants  and  tastes  that  are  changeable,  and  are  inspired  by  men's 
knowledge  of  things  as  they  are  at  present,  and  not  as  they  will  be 
in  days  to  come.  The  times  march  rapidly,  the  world  grows  daily 
wiser  and  more  exacting,  and  things  which  suit  the  requirements  of 
one  age  fail  to  meet  those  of  the  next.  Everything  must  submit  to 
continual  improvements  in  order  to  be  kept  efficient ;  one  bit  of  the 
machine  after  another  must  be  replaced,  till  at  last  nothing  of  the 
original  remains.  When  this  can  no  longer  be  done  the  machine 
becomes  useless,  it  is  condemned,  and  must  be  broken  up. 

So  universal,  so  irresistible  is  this  law  of  human  progress,  that  even 
the  dealings'  of  God's  Providence  with  men  have  had  to  pass  through 
successive  stages  of  perfection.  For  twenty  centuries  mankind  was 
under  the  natural  law  handed  down  by  family  tradition  from  Adam, 
There  was  no  code  of  precept  committed  to  writing,  no  ceremonial 
law  defining  methods  of  worship.  Conscience  was  each  man's 
guide.  The  head  of  the  family  or  tribe  was  the  religious  as  well 
as  civil  ruler;  he  gave  the  laws,  he  offered  sacrifice  according  to 


4IO  THE  CREED. 

his  own  discretion.  As  men  became  more  numerous  tribes  were 
combined  into  nations,  a  larger  organization  became  necessary,  and 
religion  had  to  keep  pace  with  social  progress.  A  written  revela- 
tion was  given,  a  special  priesthood  appointed,  the  forms  of  wor- 
ship carefully  laid  down.  That  dispensation  lasted  another  two 
thousand  years.  The  Israelites  had  become  a  nation,  and  obtained 
a  land  for  their  abode.  At  first  ruled  by  God  through  the  priest- 
hood, then  by  judges  who  raised  themselves  to  eminence  by  their 
talents,  the  country  became  a  monarchy;  then  a  kind  of  republic, 
and  at  last  a  province  of  the  Roman  Empire.  At  length  the  whole 
system  was  worn  out  and  left  behind  as  mankind  progressed.  Uni- 
versal corruption  prevailed  throughout  the  world,  and  all  nations 
looked  for  a  Redeemer  to  begin  a  new  era.  The  time  arrived  for 
a  crisis  both  in  the  natural  and  the  supernatural  order.  Jesus 
Christ  came  and  renewed  the  face  of  the  earth;  He  overthrew  the 
old  system,  and  founded  a  new  religion.  He  commenced  a  New 
Testament,  a  new  dispensation,  a  new  order  in  the  dealings  of 
Divine  Providence  with  mankind.  An  entirely  new  set  of  ideas 
were  planted  in  the  human  race;  these  were  the  germs  of  new  in- 
stitutions, of  a  new  commencement  in  human  progress,  and  they 
mark  a  definite,  broad  separation  in  history  between  two  worlds, 
the  ancient  and  the  modern.  From  that  time  there  has  been  a 
regular  advance,  always  on  the  same  lines,  a  steady  growth  of  one 
and  the  same  spirit;  although  with  many  checks  and  occasional 
temporary  or  local  retrogression. 

III.  We  have  now  arrived  at  the  chief  era,  and  in  a  sense  the 
final  era,  of  the  world's  existence.  After  passing  through  the 
periods  of  childhood  and  youth,  the  world  is  now  in  the  stage  of 
manhood.  It  has  received  from  God  all  that  it  needs  for  working 
out  its  destiny;  there  are  no  new  forces  to  be  communicated  to  it 
of  revealed  truth,  of  divine  example,  of  grace.  How  far  advanced 
the  world  is  in  manhood,  how  long  it  yet  has  to  run,  we  can  not 
judge.  But  we  may  safely  assume  that  it  has  yet  a  considerable 
course  before  it,  and  many  triumphs  to  achieve  in  its  progress. 
Great  as  are  the  wonders  we  have  seen,  there  are  probably  still 
greater  yet  to  come.  Every  power  wrested  by  man  from  nature 
serves  as  an  instrument  to  extract  still  more  from  the  great  treas- 
ures which  God  has  imbedded  in  the  deep  recesses  of  the  universe. 
Great  changes  in  the  order  of  human  life  must  follow  necessarily 
on  the  greater  knowledge  and  greater  power  gained.  Much  that 


THE  UNIVERSAL  FITNESS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  411 

we  have  now  will  become  antiquated,  and  must  pass  away  somehow 
or  other,  perhaps  by  gradual  replacement,  perhaps  by  violent  and 
destructive  revolutions.  An  epoch  of  rapid  progress  means  a  more 
rapid  succession  of  life,  and  death,  and  life  again. 

And  what  of  the  Catholic  Church?  Will  the  bark  of  Peter  be 
left  high  and  dry  on  the  banks,  to  bleach  and  drop  to  pieces  while 
the  torrent  of  progress  rushes  on?  Must  Christianity  be  trans- 
formed to  suit  the  new  requirements  of  mankind?  Or  must  it  per- 
haps be  replaced  by  a  totally  new  religion?  Outside  the  Catholic 
Church  most  men  are  convinced  that  one  or  other  of  these  things 
must  happen.  The  members  of  the  various  separated  sects  are  set- 
ting their  houses  in  order  under  pressure  of  necessity.  They  feel 
themselves  out  of  harmony  with  the  age,  and  so  are  revising  their 
confessions  of  faith,  reconsidering  their  position,  trying  to  amalga- 
mate, and  splitting  up  still  further;  they  are  shedding  unpopular 
doctrines  and  thereby  making  all  connected  doctrines  untenable; 
or,  as  in  some  cases,  picking  up  fragments  of  Catholic  truth  pre- 
viously rejected,  and  trying  to  piece  them  again  into  their  decaying 
garments. 

The  charter  of  God's  kingdom  in  the  new  era  makes  it  evident 
that  that  kingdom  was  not  to  be  subject  to  the  law  which  makes 
all  things  else  deteriorate,  and  grow  antiquated,  and  die.  Christ's 
religion  is  not  such  as  the  Jewish,  not  a  mere  temporary  expedient 
for  one  stage  of  human  progress,  a  preparation  for  something  bet- 
ter, a  type  of  things  to  come.  The  prophecies  and  the  words  of 
institution  used  by  our  Lord  indicate  that  the  new  religion  was  to 
be  complete  and  final.  It  is  the  fulfilment  of  all  figures;  it  is  the 
new  Jerusalem,  whose  gates  are  to  stand  open  day  and  night  for- 
ever to  welcome  the  multitude  of  the  Gentiles ;  its  sun  shall  go 
down  no  more,  and  its  moon  shall  not  decrease,  for  the  Lord  shall 
be  unto  it  for  an  everlasting  light ;  in  it,  the  true  house  of  Jacob,  the 
Messias  shall  reign  forever,  and  of  His  kingdom  there  shall  be  no 
end ;  it  shall  see  the  end  of  all  other  kingdoms,  and  itself  shall  stand 
forever ;  the  kingdom  of  God  will  never  be  taken  away  from  it  and 
transferred  to  another;  the  Holy  Ghost  will  teach  it  all  truth,  and 
the  kings  to  come  He  will  show  it.  Such  a  Church  can  need  no  re- 
modeling, no  replacing  by  another,  no  alteration  or  pruning  down 
in  matters  of  doctrine.  In  itself,  in  the  eternal  possession  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  and  Our  Lord  Jesus,  it  has  that  which  adapts  it  to  every 


4I2  THE  CREED. 

age  of  the  world,  and  enables  it  to  carry  out  its  appointed  work 
forever. 

IV.  It  is  a  law  of  Providence  that  when  God  lays  a  duty  on  any- 
one He  gives  the  grace  and  power  to  fulfil  it.  Moses  represented 
his  natural  incapacity  and  was  reproved  by  God ;  the  prophet  Jere- 
mias  also,  and  the  Lord  answered  him:  "Say  not,  I  am  a  child;  for 
thou  shalt  go  to  all  that  I  shall  send  thee  to ;  and  whatsoever  I  shall 
command  thee  thou  shalt  speak"  (Jer.  i,  7).  If  the  office  of  the 
Church  requires  qualities  that  no  other  institution  possesses  we  may 
be  assured  that  God  will  give  them.  The  chief  requirement  in  a 
Universal  Church  is  that  it  should  be  adapted  in  character  to  all  the 
nations  that  it  has  to  teach,  that  it  should  not  be  inferior  to  them  in 
advancement,  not  incapable  of  guiding,  not  unworthy  of  their  ven- 
eration. Can  we  imagine  God  setting  over  men  an  authority  that 
was  unfit  to  influence  them  ?  Could  He  give  the  Church  a  universal 
existence  and  universal  authority  without  giving  it  the  necessary 
accompaniment  of  universal  fitness?  Could  He  appoint  a  supreme 
guide  to  hold  His  place  on  earth,  and  yet  allow  it  to  grow  old,  en- 
feebled, opposed  to  the  due  progress  of  humanity,  and  noxious  in- 
stead of  useful  to  men  ?  This  would  be  indeed  keeping  the  letter  of 
the  promises  and  violating  their  spirit ;  this  would  indeed  be  giving 
the  children  stones  when  they  asked  for  bread.  It  is  blasphemy  to 
suppose  such  a  thing. 

It  is  incredible  that  God  should  maintain  in  existence  by  miracu- 
lous power  a  Church  which  He  had  destined  to  be  incapable  of 
doing  the  work  of  a  Church.  It  would  be  an  anomaly.  It  would 
be  a  more  extraordinary  miracle  than  the  gift  of  perpetual  life  to 
the  Church  if  God  withheld  from  it  the  gift  of  perpetual  fitness  for  all 
times.  It  would  be  giving  with  one  hand  and  taking  away  with  the 
other,  to  grant  life  without  that  which  enabled  the  life  to  accomplish 
its  object.  If  God  has  the  power  to  preserve  the  Church  in  con- 
tinual existence,  He  can  as  easily  preserve  it  in  a  state  of  efficiency. 
If  the  Church  has  vitality  enough  to  resist  the  ravages  of  time  and 
the  assaults  of  the  world  and  Satan,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that  it  has 
vitality  enough  to  keep  abreast  of  human  progress. 

In  order  to  arrive  at  this  conclusion  it  is  not  necessary  to  appeal 
to  the  promises  of  Holy  Scripture,  or  the  presence  of  God  in  the 
Church.  Catholics  know  that  their  Church  is  in  harmony  with  prog- 
ress because  God  is  with  it;  but  the  mere  existence  of  the  Church 
is  sufficient  evidence  to  non-Catholics  that,  whether  the  Church  be 


THE  UNIVERSAL  FITNESS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  413 

of  God  or  not,  it  is  at  any  rate  not  opposed  to  human  wants  and 
human  advancement.  We  have  already  seen  its  power  of  progress ; 
it  sweeps  on  ruthlessly  through  the  centuries  carrying  all  before  it; 
all  things  must  go  with  it  or  be  destroyed.  It  is  impossible  to  ob- 
struct it  for  long  together ;  the  longer  such  resistance  continues  and 
the  more  successful  it  may  seem  to  be,  so  much  greater  will  be  the 
catastrophe  when  destruction  comes.  If  anything  is  found  existing, 
and  flourishing  and  gaining  ground,  as  is  the  Catholic  Church,  we 
may  be  certain  that  it  is  not  obstructive  and  unprogressive.  It 
must  be  fundamentally  in  accord  with  the  spirit  of  progress,  how- 
ever loudly  this  be  denied  by  factious  opponents.  If  the  Catholic 
Church  be  really  what  her  enemies  say,  if  she  be  an  effete,  worn- 
out,  retrogressive,  pernicious  system,  how  can  they  account  for  the 
fact  that  she  exists  and  prospers  as  she  does?  History  affords  no 
example  of  such  a  thing.  Dying  institutions  may  linger  long  and 
struggle  fiercely,  but  the  signs  of  their  decrepitude  are  evident, 
and  they  must  surely  go;  they  do  not  renew  their  youth  like  the 
eagle,  as  the  Church  is  ever  doing,  nor  do  they  go  on  increasing 
steadily  in  bulk  and  in  vigor,  in  influence,  and  in  the  respect  of  man- 
kind. Such  an  exceptional  fact  must  have  an  exceptional  cause.  In 
the  ordinary  course  of  events  an  obsolete  system,  such  as  the  Cath- 
olic Church  is  said  to  be,  could  not  possibly  have  survived  through 
so  many  centuries  of  irresistible  progress.  There  is  but  one  al- 
ternative. Only  the  miraculous  power  of  God  could  keep  such  a 
Church  alive  in  defiance  of  the  laws  of  the  universe,  and  as  we  have 
seen,  such  a  miracle  is  not  to  be  expected. 

Our  opponents  try  to  escape  from  this  conclusion.  They  bring  up 
various  forms  of  fanaticism  like  Mahomedanism  and  Buddhism, 
which  have  not  only  survived  through  ages,  but  have  commenced  to 
revive  anew  in  this  century.  But  it  is  to  be  remarked  that  these 
survivals  or  revivals  do  not  take  place  in  the  presence  of  the  prog- 
ress of  the  nineteenth  century.  A  worthless  system  of  religion  or 
government  may  go  on  indefinitely  while  it  is  fenced  in  rigidly  from 
contact  with  the  outer  world.  But  as  soon  as  it  comes  face  to  face 
with  civilization  it  withers  up  and  dies.  So  have  the  great  Ma- 
homedan  empires  died  of  inanition;  so  are  the  ancient  religions  of 
India  dying  by  the  hand,  not  of  conquest,  but  of  education ;  so,  too, 
Japan,  when  after  two  thousand  years  of  seclusion  it  was  opened  to 
the  world,  saw  the  necessity  of  changing  at  once  all  its  institutions ; 
thus  it  saved  its  national  life,  instead  of  allowing  it  to  be  trampled 


4,4  THE  CREED. 

out  of  existence  in  a  vain  struggle  with  progress.  The  Catholic 
Church  has  never  lived  in  that  seclusion  which  lengthens  the  life  of 
worn-out  institutions  beyond  their  proper  span.  She  is  never  out- 
side the  influence  of  the  advancing  tide  of  humanity;  at  times  she 
has  led  it ;  she  has  always  been  in  the  midst  of  it.  Her  rulers  have 
always  been  men  of  intellect  and  cultivation;  her  schools  have  al- 
ways led  the  way  in  education;  her  influence  has  always  been 
dominant  in  literature,  law,  science  and  social  reforms.  She  has 
flourished  among  surroundings  that  would  have  overwhelmed  and 
destroyed  her  had  she  ever  been  really  behind  her  age. 

Another  calumny  is  that  the  Church  maintains  her  influence  by 
crushing  the  intelligence,  enslaving  the  soul,  tyrannizing  over  the 
weak  and  ignorant.  It  is  an  utter  impossibility.  There  were 
times  when  this  could  be  done,  but  they  have  passed  away.  Protes- 
tantism and  Mahomedanism,  armed  with  the  power  of  fire  and 
sword,  were  able,  in  certain  quarters  of  the  world,  to  extinguish  for 
a  time  the  Catholic  faith ;  but  their  dominion  failed  as  soon  as  mod- 
ern freedom,  and  general  intercourse,  and  criticism  came  into  being. 
A  tyranny  over  one  nation  has  become  impossible  in  these  days  of 
progress;  the  military  power  of  the  greatest  monarchy  could  not 
maintain  it;  the  most  backward  of  starving  populations  would  not 
endure  it.  It  is  inconceivable  that  any  institution,  especially  one 
with  no  coercive  power  of  wealth  or  the  sword,  should  be  able,  in 
this  nineteenth  century,  to  hold  down  by  fraud  or  tyranny  a  world- 
wide community,  embracing  men  of  every  character,  of  every  na- 
tion, of  every  pursuit,  men  of  knowledge  and  shrewdness,  and  above 
all  imbued  with  the  sense  of  freedom  and  the  consciousness  of  their 
rights. 

The  persons  who  think  that  such  explanations  account  for  the 
phenomenon  which  the  Catholic  Church  presents,  must  either  believe 
that  she  has  a  magical  power  more  exorbitant  than  any  Catholic 
claims  for  her,  or  they  must  have  a  very  inadequate  opinion  of  prog- 
ress and  its  power  of  sweeping  obstacles  from  its  path.  Right 
reason  alone  can  hold  a  wide  and  permanent  sway  over  human  in- 
telligence ;  real  goodness  alone  can  command  the  love  and  enthusiasm 
of  multitudes ;  and  even  then  they  require  the  influx  of  divine  grace 
to  make  their  power  universal.  If  the  Catholic  Church  has  exerted 
such  an  influence  as  this  for  eighteen  hundred  years  and  exerts  it 
still,  there  is  but  one  adequate  explanation,  viz.,  that  she  is  supported 
by  God,  and  derives  from  Him  both  her  indefectible  life  and  her 


THE  UNIVERSAL  FITNESS  OF  THE  CHURCH.  415 

universal  fitness  to  rule  the  human  race  in  every  stage  of  its  de- 
velopment. 

The  enemies  of  the  Church,  even  while  condemning  her,  wonder 
at  her  unexampled  adaptability  to  all  circumstances.  And  indeed 
there  is  no  such  marvelous  spectacle  on  earth.  Age  differs  from 
age,  country  from  country,  all  things  vary  according  to  time  and 
place.  The  conditions  that  helped  development  in  one  period  are 
unendurable  fetters  in  the  next.  Only  one  institution  goes  on  for 
ever,  itself  unchanged,  yet  adapting  itself  to  every  aspect  of  hu- 
manity. In  every  stage  and  society,  under  every  form  of  govern- 
ment, from  the  center  to  the  extremities  of  the  world,  there  is  one 
great  figure  that  seems  to  preside  over  the  destinies  of  men.  It  is  a 
unique  fact  in  history  that  the  Church  of  the  Catacombs  should  be 
the  Church  of  the  Middle  Ages  and  the  Church  of  the  nineteenth 
century ;  that  it  should  adapt  itself  equally  to  the  persecutions  of  the 
Roman  empire  and  to  princely  domination  in  later  times;  that  it 
should  flourish  alike  in  the  monarchies  of  the  old  world  and  the 
democratic  republics  of  the  new;  that  it  should  be  equally  natural- 
ized in  the  capitals  of  Europe  and  the  deserts  of  Africa,  and  the 
great  prairies  of  the  West;  that  it  should  mould  to  one  faith  and 
one  worship  the  Asiatic  and  the  American,  the  German  and  the 
Italian,  the  professors  in  universities  and  the  islanders  in  the  South- 
ern seas.  That  Church  exists  now  and  has  the  same  predominance, 
not  merely  with  her  own  children,  but  with  the  world  at  large  of 
this  day,  as  she  had  in  the  Ages  of  Faith.  She  is  no  fossil  of  bygona 
days,  no  interesting  relic  that  has  lost  its  utility  and  fills  a  shelf  in 
a  museum,  but  she  has  all  the  vigor  and  more  than  the  influence 
that  she  has  ever  before  possessed.  The  existence  of  the  Church  at 
the  present  day  is  an  incontrovertible  proof  of  her  universal  fitness. 
Her  fitness  for  all  times  and  places  is  an  incontrovertible  proof  of 
her  divine  origin  and  authority.  Scripture,  and  reason,  and  history, 
and  present  facts,  combine  to  prove  that  the  Catholic  Church  is  the 
Church  of  Progress  and  the  Church  of  the  Living  God. 


4I6  THE  CREED. 


XLIX.    THE  CHURCH  AND  MODERN  PROGRESS. 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REV.   JAMES   BELLORD,  D.D. 

"The  judgment  of  death  is  for  this  man;  because  he  hath  prophecied 
against  this  city,  as  you  have  heard  with  your  ears." — Jerem.  xxvi,  n. 

SYNOPSIS. — /.  An  old  yet  ever-present  objection  against  the  Church  is  that 
she  is  the  enemy  of  progress.  This  objection  insisted  on  by  all  the 
enemies  of  the  Church.  Even  her  enemies  give  evidence  in  her  favor, 
on  particular  points.  If  the  objection  were  true,  she  could  not  have  done 
so  much  good  work,  in  fact  would  have  ceased  to  exist. 

II.  The  institution  and  the  history  of  the  Church  clearly  prove 
that  she  is  not  and  can  not  be  the  enemy  of  progress.    I.   Her  mission, 
even  though  spiritual,  tends  to  the  advancement  of  mankind.     2.    Her 
relations  to  society,  even  in   the  temporal  order,  have  the  same   ten- 
dency, though  indirectly. 

III.  The  Church  always  concerned  with  the  progress  of  man  in 
every  order,  moral,  intellectual,  social.     Concerned  first  of  all  with  the 
spiritual  advancement  of  men.    She  has  ever  taught  that  temporal  prog- 
ress is  to  be  esteemed  in  proportion  to  its  relation  to  man's  final  destiny; 
that  the  supernatural  is  to  be  sought  in  preference  to  the  natural.    In 
this  she  follows  Chrises  example.    So  she  denounces  the  evils  of  the  day, 
even  though  in  doing  so  she  may  be  charged  with  standing  in  the  way 
of  progress. 

I.  If  we  are  to  believe  the  opinion  that  is  current  in  a  large  sec- 
tion of  the  world,  the  Catholic  Church  has  one  great  note  or  mark 
that  always  distinguishes  her,  she  is  the  enemy  of  human  progress. 
This  is  the  first  article  of  faith  in  a  great  many  religious  bodies; 
it  is  about  the  only  article  of  faith  on  which  the  innumerable  sects 
are  jointly  agreed;  they  have  no  other  unity  except  that  which 
gives  them  their  name,  the  unity  of  protesting  against  the  one 
true  Church  of  God.  As  it  is  their  unity  so  it  is  their  strength. 
This  view  is  so  constant  that  it  is  considered  to  need  no  proof  be- 
sides the  fact  that  so  many  agree  in  holding  it.  It  is  a  first  prin- 
ciple. In  a  thousand  forms  it  conies  up  every  day.  The  Catholic 
Church,  it  is  said,  is  always  unprogressive  and  behind  the  age,  it  is 
committed  to  ignorance,  it  is  the  enemy  of  light  and  investigation, 
it  enslaves  the  mind,  and  is  the  great  obstacle  to  liberty;  it  is  re- 
sponsible for  paganism,  which  was  its  enemy  of  the  first  three  cen- 
turies; for  barbarism,  which  it  gradually  overthrew;  for  the  cor- 
ruptions and  civil  tumults  with  which  it  had  to  contend  while  bring- 
ing society  into  a  settled  state ;  for  the  infidelity  which  is  its  present 


THE  CHURCH  AND  MODERN  PROGRESS.  417 

foe.  All  the  evils  with  which  it  contended,  all  the  violations  of  its 
own  laws  by  disobedient  subjects,  all  that  is  evil  in  every  national 
character  or  in  the  prevailing  worldly  spirit  of  each  successive  age, 
all  the  troubles  that  flowed  from  the  neglect  of  its  precepts,  are  set 
down  as  being  the  direct  result  of  the  Church's  action.  Such  is  the 
tradition  of  falsehood  that  has  grown  up  in  the  world. 

Whenever  an  investigator  has  the  honesty  to  seek  the  bare  truth 
and  the  courage  to  set  it  forth,  he  has  come  to  the  conclusion,  in 
spite  of  his  original  prejudice,  that  the  charges  against  the  Church 
are  untrue  in  that  particular  period  which  he  has  examined.  It 
would  be  possible  to  gather  from  witnesses  generally  hostile  to  the 
Church  a  series  of  vindications  of  her  character  covering  every 
period  from  the  days  of  St.  Peter  to  the  days  of  Pius  X.  Some 
writers  find  Catholic  doctrines  reasonable  and  consistent  through- 
out, and  expose  the  influence  for  good  which  they  have  had  on 
each  generation.  Others  explain  at  length  how  the  Catholic 
Church  undermined  paganism  and  created  the  early  civilization  of 
Europe.  Others  have  dwelt  on  the  influence  of  the  Popes  in  shield- 
ing the  people  from  the  oppression  of  kings  and  nobles,  and  estab- 
lishing popular  liberties.  Others  have  taken  up  the  monastic  sys- 
tem, so  calumniated  by  those  who  know  nothing  about  it,  and  have 
shown  what  its  services  were  to  literature  and  learning,  agriculture 
and  wealth,  art  and  refinement  of  manners.  Others  have  revealed 
the  true  character  of  the  "glorious  reformation,"  with  the  misery, 
the  immorality,  the  cruel  wars  that  resulted  from  it.  Some  have 
devoted  themselves  to  the  glorification  of  certain  saints  who  have 
been  the  special  representatives  of  the  Catholic  spirit.  Scores  have 
borne  witness  to  the  unapproachable  heroism  of  Catholic  missionaries 
and  religious  orders,  and  to  the  success  which  they  and  they  alone 
command.  But  these  after  all  are  the  few ;  they  speak  only  to  one 
or  another  of  the  many  points  which  calumny  has  distorted;  their 
evidence  is  slow  in  becoming  widely  known.  A  certain  number  may 
thus  be  brought  to  admit  that,  at  some  remote  times,  or  in  a  few 
corners  of  the  world,  the  Catholic  Church  has  done  a  noble  work; 
but  they  admit  it  only  as  an  exception  to  the  general  rule ;  and  they 
too  join  in  the  prevalent  chorus  against  the  Catholic  Church  as  being 
hostile  to  mankind  at  least  in  her  general  tendency. 

The  enemies  of  the  Church  prove  too  much,  and  therefore  they 
prove  nothing.  If  their  allegations  were  all  true,  the  Catholic 
Church,  as  being  the  enemy  of  all  human  welfare,  the  obstacle  to  all 


4i 8  THE  CREED. 

progress,  the  mother  of  ignorance,  superstition  and  tyranny,  would 
be  simply  the  Evil  Principle,  the  enemy  of  God  as  well  as  of  man, 
and  utterly  incapable  of  any  of  those  good  and  Christian  works 
which  everybody  must  admit  she  has  wrought.  If  those  charges 
were  true  they  would  prove  indeed  that  the  Catholic  Church  was 
not  the  one  founded  by  the  Apostles,  and  not  the  inheritor  of  the 
promises  of  Jesus  Christ ;  but  if  they  were  true,  the  Catholic  Church 
could  not  possibly  have  preserved  her  existence  up  to  the  present 
day.  For,  supposing  the  Church  to  be  an  ordinary  human  institu- 
tion, she  would  long  ago  have  been  swept  into  nothingness  by  the 
overwhelming  torrent  of  human  progress.  Supposing  her  to  have 
been  originally  divine  and  to  have  been  corrupted  and  to  have  failed 
like  the  Jewish  church  of  old,  then  God  would  not  have  continued  to 
her  that  indefectible  life  and  energy  which  make  her  the  sole  excep- 
tion to  the  universal  law  of  decay  and  death.  The  flourishing  exist- 
ence of  the  Church  shows  that  she  meets  a  want  in  human  nature ; 
and  while  that  is  the  case,  it  is  not  merely  a  falsehood,  it  is  a  folly 
to  talk  of  her  as  essentially  opposed  to  the  worthy  aspirations  of 
mankind. 

Yet  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  such  gross  untruths  should 
be  put  forward  and  should  meet  acceptance.  The  Church  must  ever 
be  the  butt  of  human  passion,  she  is  persecuted  with  a  blind  fury 
by  all  who  differ  from  her,  she  has  to  suffer  both  open  calumny 
and  the  more  insidious  misrepresentation  of  facts  that  are  actual. 
Her  enemies  think  that  any  weapon  is  good  enough  to  use  against 
her,  and  in  their  selection  of  arguments  they  do  not  consider  what 
is  true,  but  what  is  most  damaging.  The  charge  of  being  hostile 
to  progress,  to  liberty,  to  enlightenment,  is  a  very  telling  one.  It 
makes  the  Church  contemptible  as  well  as  hateful,  it  arrays  against 
her  one  of  the  strongest  impulses  of  humanity,  and  also  one  of  the 
strongest  of  illegitimate  impulses,  that  of  pride.  The  Church  is 
represented  as  keeping  mature  humanity  in  the  leading  strings  of 
infancy,  denying  it  all  independence,  ignoring  its  dignity,  and  at 
the  same  time  men  are  flattered  by  the  assurance  that  they  are  suffi- 
cient by  themselves  for  all  purposes,  that  they  need  no  guidance,  and 
own  no  allegiance  to  any  law  but  that  of  their  own  interest.  Hence 
the  great  jealousy  of  any  authority  that  presumes  to  dictate  to 
them.  There  is  also  a  general  suspicion  of  what  is  old,  as  if  it 
must  be  inferior  to  what  is  modern,  as  if  nothing  will  suit  our  su- 
perior cultivation  but  what  we  have  devised  for  ourselves;  and  it 


THE  CHURCH  AND  MODERN  PROGRESS.  419 

is  found  impossible  to  realize  that  the  Church  like  Him  who  is  her 
life  is  ever  new  while  ever  ancient;  and  that  while  all  things  else 
grow  antiquated  she  ever  renews  her  youth.  Then  also  there  is 
much  ambiguity  about  the  term  "Modern  Progress."  Progress  it- 
self has  many  departments,  and  it  is  not  every  kind  of  progress  that 
is  beneficial.  There  are  many  modern  and  prevalent  ideas  which  are 
neither  progressive  nor  beneficial,  and  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
progress  which  is  by  no  means  modern.  Hence  there  is  much  mis- 
understanding of  the  attitude  of  the  Church,  and  much  opportunity, 
consequently,  of  misrepresenting  it. 

II.  Let  us  consider  what  has  been  the  attitude  of  the  Church  to- 
ward the  progress  of  mankind.  The  new  doctrines  that  Our  Lord 
made  known  to  the  world  contained  all  the  germs  of  future  prog- 
ress. Christian  principles  first  made  their  way  among  men,  formed 
a  new  character  in  them  and  then  became  the  basis  of  all  the  insti- 
tutions which  their  social  life  required.  It  was  not  the  direct  ob- 
ject of  religion  to  draw  up  constitutions,  to  carry  on  government,  to 
dictate  codes  of  law,  to  regulate  the  internal  affairs  of  states  or  their 
relations  to  one  another.  Its  object  was  to  re-create  human  nature 
according  to  the  model  of  God  in  Jesus  Christ,  to  start  a  new  set  of 
ideas  and  higher  principles  of  conduct.  The  germs  of  the  new  order 
of  things  were  chiefly  a  more  complete  knowledge  of  God  and  the 
future  life,  closer  union  with  God  by  love  and  by  the  Holy  Euchar- 
ist, the  example  of  Our  Lord's  virtues,  the  brotherhood  and  equality 
of  all  men,  liberty,  charity  or  universal  love,  and  strict  justice.  On 
this  foundation  a  new  society  was  to  be  formed;  the  application  of 
these  principles  and  all  minor  details  were  left  to  be  worked  out  by 
such  as  were  fitted  for  the  task,  and  in  various  ways,  according  to 
the  circumstances  of  each  community.  The  principles  themselves 
were  final  and  eternal,  the  forms  in  which  they  were  embodied  were 
subject  to  variation.  The  Church,  the  teacher  of  religion,  was  the 
repository  of  these  ideas ;  it  was  her  duty  to  maintain  them  in  their 
purity  and  keep  them  constantly  before  mankind.  Her  office  then 
was  eternal,  and  she  was  to  be  the  ultimate  source  of  all  progress, 
in  all  times,  and  all  places.  Yet  the  Church  was  not  to  be  the  sole 
administrative  power ;  she  was  not  to  be  ruler  and  legislator,  secular 
teacher  and  sanitary  engineer,  as  in  the  early  times  of  Israel.  Re- 
ligion was  her  department,  she  was  supreme  in  matters  of  faith  and 
morals,  and  the  civil  power  was  supreme  in  other  departments. 
She  was  the  interpreter  of  religious  ideas,  and  these  were  to  be  the 


420  THE  CREED. 

life  of  all  secular  action  in  society  outside.  This  is  the  key  to  the 
position  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  regard  to  progress;  this  is  her 
proper  function  in  society. 

The  conditions  of  society,  however,  did  not  permit  the  Church 
to  confine  herself  to  her  special  duties ;  she  was  compelled  at  times 
to  take  on  her  certain  other  duties  which  belonged  to  the  State,  but 
which  the  State  had  not  the  means  of  fulfilling.  In  the  barbarous 
days  which  intervened  between  the  old  and  the  new  civilization, 
almost  the  only  educated  men  in  Europe  were  the  ecclesiastics ;  they 
alone  valued  the  arts  of  peace,  and  understood  all  methods  of  gov- 
ernment and  discipline  except  those  of  camps.  They  did  not  forget 
that  they  were  citizens  as  well  as  Churchmen,  and,  as  a  conse- 
quence of  their  higher  education,  the  chief  civic  duties  devolved  on 
them.  Bishops  were,  of  necessity,  often  temporal  princes,  and  gen- 
erally they  were  the  chief  councillors  of  their  sovereigns.  The 
clergy,  being  in  touch  with  every  class,  were  the  intermediaries  be- 
tween kings  and  people ;  they  taught  subjects  to  obey  for  conscience' 
sake,  they  laid  down  the  duties  of  rulers  and  insisted  on  their  per- 
formance. They  were  always  on  the  side  of  freedom  against  arbi- 
trary power,  they  founded  the  popular  liberties  in  every  country, 
they  declared  when  kings  had  forfeited  by  their  misdeeds  their  claim 
to  allegiance.  It  must  be  remembered  also  that  the  first  declaration 
of  liberty  and  the  rights  of  man  emanated  from  the  Church  when 
she  set  her  face  against  slavery  and  finally  abolished  it  in  Europe. 
In  another  way,  progress  was  advanced  by  the  great  works  of  public 
utility  undertaken  by  the  bishops  or  monasteries.  In  our  days  they 
are  carried  out  by  companies  of  capitalists,  who  take  them  up  either 
as  investments  for  their  own  savings,  or  as  the  means  of  appro- 
priating for  themselves  the  savings  of  others.  Wherever  the  Church 
held  power  formerly  we  find  aqueducts  and  roads  and  bridges,  hos- 
pitals and  schools,  rivers  embanked,  marshes  drained,  harbors  built ; 
and  all  this  at  no  expense  to  the  community,  and  with  no  burden  of 
debt  for  posterity.  We  pride  ourselves  on  our  universal  education 
as  one  of  the  chief  signs  of  our  progress.  For  ages,  when  our  bar- 
barous ancestors  despised  and  impeded  education  as  useless  and  un- 
manly, the  Church  alone  held  up  the  torch  of  knowledge;  she  pre- 
served ancient  literature  and  commenced  the  new ;  she  founded  col- 
leges and  universities  everywhere;  she  kept  science  and  art  alive, 
and  persevered  till  she  made  knowledge  a  power  in  the  world. 
In  the  monastery  schools  education  was  really  free;  the  father  not 


THE  CHURCH  AND  MODERN  PROGRESS.  421 

only  was  exempt  from  payment  for  the  instruction  of  his  own  chil- 
dren, but  he  was  exempt  from  being  taxed  to  provide  free  education 
for  the  children  of  others. 

The  Church  had  also  a  great  influence  on  account  of  her  landed 
possessions,  and  this  influence  was  used  for  the  benefit  and  the  prog- 
ress of  men.  She  protected  the  poor  and  oppressed,  she  restrained 
the  tyranny  of  kings  and  barons,  she  discouraged  war  and  miti- 
gated its  ferocity  and  destructiveness  when  she  could  not  prevent  it, 
cultivated  the  arts  of  peace,  settled  the  newly  converted  barbarians 
and  formed  them  into  industrial  communities;  she  organized  labor, 
so  as  to  improve  its  efficiency  and  secure  it  due  remuneration.  What 
is  all  this  but  advancement  and  progress  ?  Yet  again  the  Church  im- 
planted certain  mental  and  moral  habits  which  are  more  important 
for  human  development  than  even  her  great  material  contributions 
toward  it.  These  habits  were  the  idea  of  justice,  the  idea  of  broth- 
erly love,  the  idea  of  honor,  the  idea  of  respect  for  authority.  These 
ideas,  founded  on  religion,  are  dying  out  now  with  the  decay  of 
religion,  so  that  they  are  hardly  recognized  among  men ;  and  in  con- 
sequence the  benefits  of  civilization  are  being  diminished  and  its 
forces  turned  to  evil  account. 

These  are  but  a  few  examples  of  what  the  Catholic  Church  has 
done  for  the  advancement  of  the  world.  There  are  many  other  in- 
stances in  which  the  Church  has  taken  upon  herself  burdens  which 
did  not  properly  belong  to  her  province.  Her  clergy  undertook 
them  in  their  capacity  of  citizens  rather  than  as  ecclesiastics,  and  in 
default  of  others  who  had  capacity  for  them.  As  time  goes  on  the 
various  classes  of  citizens  become  capable  of  undertaking  their  own 
duties,  and  the  Church  retires,  or  more  often  is  dispossessed  with 
contumely  as  having  usurped  those  duties.  She  confines  herself 
more  exclusively  to  her  own  spiritual  duties,  she  ceases  to  be  what 
she  temporarily  was,  the  leader  of  all  kinds  of  progress.  She  is 
accused  then  of  lagging  behind,  of  having  changed  her  character 
and  become  useless.  It  is  only  that  the  demands  upon  her  have 
changed.  She  still  is  ready  when  occasion  offers  to  undertake  again 
the  teaching  of  civilization  as  well  as  of  religion;  and  every  day 
she  shows  that  she  has  not  lost  those  abilities  which  formerly  she 
exercised. 

III.  The  Church  has  always  been  concerned,  and  now  as  much 
as  formerly,  with  the  real  progress  of  men,  i.  e.,  their  moral  and  in- 
tellectual advancement,  their  social  order,  their  happiness,  and  the 


422  THE  CREED. 

averting  of  the  evils  of  war,  disease  and  the  like,  even  although 
these  lie  outside  the  sphere  of  strictly  spiritual  progress.  But  there 
is  another  department  of  worldly  progress,  it  is  that  which  is  sim- 
ply material,  or  rather  it  consists  of  the  instruments  of  progress, 
wealth,  comfort,  inventions,  machinery,  commerce,  rapid  transport, 
great  buildings,  sanitary  improvements  and  such  like.  Although 
the  Church  has  taken  her  full  share  in  the  development  of  these, 
still  they  lie  further  outside  her  principal  object,  and,  in  later  times 
especially,  she  has  devoted  less  attention  to  them.  At  the  same  time 
men  are  getting  to  value  these  things  more  and  more,  and  to  set 
them,  not  only  above  spiritual  interests,  but  above  the  higher  worldly 
interests  of  mankind.  Material  progress  has  come  to  be  considered 
as  the  real  substance  of  progress  and  an  end  in  itself,  instead  of  the 
means  and  instrument  of  progress.  The  Church  has  not  shared  in  this 
exorbitant  appreciation  of  material  achievements.  She  has  pointed 
out  that  their  advantages  are  not  unmixed;  that,  according  to  the 
way  they  are  used,  they  may  be  injurious  as  well  as  beneficial; 
that  they  may  be  prejudicial  to  the  highest  progress  of  man,  and 
that  their  use  must  be  controlled  and  subordinated  to  the  spiritual 
laws  of  justice  and  charity.  She  has  fought,  not  against  such  things 
in  themselves,  but  against  excess  in  the  appreciation  of  them  or  the 
use  of  them.  While  admitting  the  excellence  of  these  natural  vir- 
tues which  conduce  to  temporal  prosperity,  such  as  industry,  thrift, 
independence  of  mind,  enterprise,  cleanliness,  she  insists  that  hu- 
mility, chastity,  devotion,  self-restraint  are  on  a  much  higher  level. 
She  exalts  the  supernatural  above  the  merely  natural,  places  eternity 
before  time,  the  soul  before  the  body.  The  burden  of  her  teaching 
is :  "Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and  his  justice,  and  all  these 
things  shall  be  added  to  you"  (Matt,  vi,  33).  So  Our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  commanded,  and  so  He  asked.  Having  all  knowledge  and  all 
power,  He  did  not  discover  to  men  the  secrets  of  electricity  hidden 
for  ages  in  the  recesses  of  nature,  He  did  not  organize  commerce, 
and  banking,  and  the  system  of  credit;  He  did  not  open  up  undis- 
covered continents;  when  He  was  invited  to  divide  the  inheritance 
between  two  brothers,  He  refused  and  merely  bade  them  beware  of 
covetousness.  The  Catholic  Church  has  followed  this  example,  and 
this  is  one  chief  foundation  of  the  charge  against  her  that  she  is 
the  enemy  of  progress.  Events  are  justifying  the  provisions  of  the 
Church.  Material  progress  is  benefiting  many,  but  on  the  whole  it 
has  not  conduced  to  the  progress  of  the  multitudes.  The  increase 


THE  CHURCH  AND  MODERN  PROGRESS.       423 

of  vealth  has  flowed  into  the  pockets  of  the  few ;  with  the  increase 
of  production  the  struggle  for  a  sufficiency  has  become  more  in- 
tense ;  natural  blessings  have  been  turned  into  means  of  terrible  op- 
pression. It  is  coming  to  be  recognized  that  the  chief  factor  of 
even  worldly  progress  and  happiness  is  spiritual  rather  than  ma- 
terial, within  the  soul  of  man  rather  than  in  external  nature ;  and  that 
what  we  require  to  remedy  misery  and  discontent  is,  not  the  discov- 
ery of  a  new  continent,  the  opening  of  rich  gold  fields,  or  machinery 
that  will  double  production  and  halve  the  cost  of  it,  but  rather  the 
revival  of  the  Christian  virtues  of  justice,  sobriety,  moderation,  and 
benevolence.  In  due  course  it  will  be  recognized  that  the  Christian* 
spirit,  and  not  the  modern  commercial  spirit  of  greed,  is  the  real 
source  of  human  progress. 

In  one  limited  sense  the  Church  is  the  enemy  of  progress,  i.  e., 
of  a  certain  progress  that  is  destructive  of  all  real  advance.  It  is 
only  to  be  called  progress  in  a  logical  sense,  viz.,  because  it  is  the 
carrying  out  of  false  promises  to  worse  conclusions.  There  is  a 
certain  kind  of  advance  in  the  sense  of  continuing  on  the  same 
lines;  but  it  is  the  advance  of  one  who  is  rushing  blindly  down  a 
decline  toward  a  precipice.  This  is  the  nature  of  what  are  called 
modern  ideas  as  opposed  to  Christian  ideas.  There  is  a  regular  de- 
velopment of  them,  they  are  decidedly  modern,  and  they  are  de- 
structive of  social  order,  morality,  peace,  and  happiness.  The  idea 
has  come  into  vogue  that  man  is  the  master  of  his  destiny,  that  he 
knows  best  what  suits  his  nature,  that  he  needs  no  guidance;  con- 
sequently that  revealed  truth  and  the  divine  law  are  outside  practical 
life,  that  they  are  unrealities,  mere  fancies  and  superstitions  which 
should  have  no  influence  on  human  life.  This  idea  is  considered  as 
the  latest  outcome  of  modern  science  and  thought,  and  an  attempt 
is  being  made  to  carry  on  the  civilized  world  in  harmony  with  it. 
In  legislation  and  politics  there  is  no  recognition  of  any  responsi- 
bility to  God,  and  no  regard  for  any  law  but  current  public  opin- 
ion. Hence  there  have  been  a  multitude  of  laws  passed,  a  number 
of  customs  introduced  in  public  and  private  life,  in  commerce  and 
in  the  economy  of  states,  which  are  directly  opposed  to  the  law  of 
God,  are  mortally  sinful,  and  sure  to  incur  punishment  in  the  shape 
of  social  evils  and  the  hindrance  of  the  real  progress  of  men.  The 
godless  or  unchristian  spirit  of  the  times  expresses  itself  in  laws  of 
divorce,  in  confiscation  of  private  property  when  it  is  used  for  re- 
ligious purposes,  in  education  without  religion,  in  the  glorification  of 


424  THE   CREED. 

indecency  and  in  hostility  to  all  forms  of  holy  life,  in  the  general 
spread  of  dishonesty  in  money  matters  great  and  small,  in  the  disre- 
gard of  truth,  justice  and  benevolence  in  the  dealings  of  country  with 
country,  and  in  the  toleration  or  tenderness  that  is  felt  toward  many 
crimes,  such  as  impurity,  and  suicide,  and  at  times  murder.  When 
the  Church  raises  her  voice  against  these  or  any  other  embodiments 
of  the  godless  spirit,  she  is  represented  as  attacking  the  foundations 
of  social  order.  She  denounces  certain  ideas  and  methods  that  pre- 
vail in  certain  civilized  communities,  and  she  is  therefore  held  up 
to  hatred  as  the  deadly  foe  of  civilization  and  progress :  "The  judg- 
ment of  death  is  for  this  man ;  because  he  hath  prophecied  against 
this  city  as  you  have  heard  with  your  ears"  (Jer.  xxvi,  n). 

By  all  these  calumnies  against  the  Church  of  God  a  wide  preju- 
dice is  created,  she  is  prevented  from  doing  her  full  work  in  the 
world,  and  consequently  the  work  of  progress  is  seriously  retarded. 
For  centuries  the  Church  guided  the  advance  of  the  world  success- 
fully, although  under  many  difficulties ;  she  is  doing  the  same  now, 
but  her  power  is  much  limited.  If  she  had  been  allowed  lib- 
erty to  carry  out  her  divine  vocation  the  world  would  have  made 
much  greater  progress  than  it  actually  has.  All  the  good  we 
now  have  we  would  still  have,  and  without  those  drawbacks  that 
now  neutralize  so  much  of  the  good.  The  world  must  certainly 
have  suffered  much  from  rejecting  those  aids  to  progress  which 
God  has  offered  in  the  Catholic  Church.  "Who  hath  resisted 
him  and  hath  had  peace?"  (Job  ix,  4).  And  we  can  not  expect 
that  the  world's  possibilities  of  progress  will  ever  be  realized  until 
mankind  comes  to  recognize  the  Church  as  the  sole  fount  of  those 
ideas  on  which  progress  and  human  well-being  depends.  In  the 
Old  Testament  God  reproached  the  Israelites  for  abandoning  His 
guidance  and  for  seeking  to  make  progress  by  methods  of  their  own, 
methods  which  seemed  better  than  the  divine  ones  but  which  led  to 
destruction.  The  same  reproach  might  be  addressed  to  this  genera- 
tion :  "Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  Redeemer,  the  Holy  One  of  Israel ; 
I  am  the  Lord  thy  God  that  teach  thee  profitable  things,  that  gov- 
ern thee  in  the  way  that  thou  walkest.  O  that  thou  hadst  hearkened 
to  my  commandments;  thy  peace  had  been  as  a  river,  and  thy  justice 
as  the  waves  of  the  sea.  And  thy  seed  had  been  as  the  sand,  and 
the  offspring  of  the  bowels  like  the  gravel  thereof ;  his  name  should 
not  have  perished,  nor  have  been  destroyed  from  before  my  face" 
(Isa.  xlviii,  17-19). 


HUMAN  RESPECT  AND  PERSECUTION.  425 


L.    HUMAN  RESPECT  AND  PERSECUTION. 

BY  THE  REV.  H.  G.  HUGHES. 

"Fear  ye  not  them  that  kill  the  body,  and  are  not  able  to  kill  the  soul; 
but  rather  fear  him  that  can  destroy  both  body  and  soul  in  hell" — Matt 
x,  28. 

SYNOPSIS.— I.  Persecution  the  lot  of  all  true  Christians.  We  may  have 
thought  that  these  words  (of  the  text)  apply  to  martyrdom  only.  They 
do  apply  to  martyrdom,  but  also  to  all  kinds  of  persecution.  The  mar- 
tyrs— their  choice.  All  have  to  make  a  similar  choice.  Many  Catholics 
have  to  suffer  real  persecution.  This  is  an  honor.  Another  kind  of  per- 
secution— that  carried  on  by  the  worldly  minded  against  the  spiritually 
minded.  This  all  good  Christians  have  to  bear — public  opinion.  We 
have  to  choose  between  this  and  Jesus  Christ.  "No  man  can  serve  two 
masters."  We  try  to  do  so. 

II.  What  is  human  respect?    A  definition.    Its  characteristics:  (a) 
Loss  of  moral  liberty...   (b)   Sign  of  a  weak  judgment,     (c)   It  is  a 
slavery  by  which  we  risk  our  salvation — instances  of  this,     (d)   It  is 
a  great  offence  against  God.     Thus  we  have  the  same  objects  of  choice 
as  the  martyrs.   Exhortation  to  "have  done"  with  it.   Its  evil  effect  even 
on  good  people. 

III.  How  to  avoid  the  dangers  of  human  respect,     (a)   Take  up 
a  strong  position  from  the  first.    Special  circumstances  under  which  this 
must  be  put  in  practice.     (&)  A  practical  spirit  of  faith,  i.  e.,  thoughtful 
conviction  of  the  truths  of  religion  influencing  the  will,     (c)   Watchful- 
ness— by  self-examination,     (d)  Regular  and  devout  use  of  the  means 
of  grace. 

We  have  often,  dear  brethren  in  Jesus  Christ,  heard  or  read 
these  words  of  our  divine  Lord  that  I  have  taken  for  my  text;  and 
it  may  be  that  we  have  thought  them  to  have  little  or  no  application 
to  our  own  lives.  We  are  not  likely  to  be  called  upon  to  make  the 
choice  between  temporal  death  at  the  hands  of  the  enemies  of  our 
faith  and  the  risk  of  everlasting  destruction  at  the  hands  of  God  in 
punishment  of  apostacy.  Many  thousands  in  past  times,  and  many 
even  in  our  own  times,  have  had  this  choice  put  before  them — to 
renounce  their  faith  and  fall  under  the  anger  of  the  God  whom  they 
would  thus  betray;  or  to  endure  torments,  shame,  temporal  ruin 
or  disgrace,  and  even  death  itself,  at  the  hands  of  their  persecutors. 
Some,  indeed,  have  chosen  wrongly,  and  have  preferred  a  few 
short  years  of  earthly  life,  or  of  earthly  prosperity,  to  the  eternal 
crown  of  martyrdom,  unable  to  face  the  sharp,  but  short,  suffering 


426  THE    CREED. 

by  which  that  crown  was  to  be  obtained.  But  others,  thousands  of 
them,  of  all  ages  and  conditions,  young  boys  and  tender  maidens, 
youths  in  the  first  flush  of  manhood,  the  aged  and  infirm  also,  as 
well  as  the  strong  and  vigorous  in  the  prime  of  life,  have  chosen 
aright,  and  willingly,  patiently,  nay,  joyfully  and  triumphantly  laid 
down  life  and  all  that  the  world  holds  dear  for  the  love  and  honor 
of  Jesus  Christ  their  well  loved  Lord  and  Saviour. 

And  it  was,  doubtless,  to  those  who  should  have  this  choice  put 
before  them  that  our  blessed  Lord's  words  were  primarily  directed ; 
but  not  to  those  alone.  His  words  have  an  application  to  all  true 
Christians.  If  the  choice  put  before  every  Christian  be  not  the 
choice  between  martyrdom  and  apostacy,  yet  it  is  similar.  No  one 
who  is  striving  to  be  a  good  Christian  and  to  serve  God  will  escape 
some  kind  of  persecution.  It  may  easily  happen,  indeed,  and  it 
frequently  does  happen,  that  a  Catholic  has  to  endure  very  real, 
very  bitter  and  severe  persecution  for  his  faithfulness  to  his  con- 
science, to  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  one  true  Church  which  Jesus  Christ 
founded  upon  earth.  Let  such  thank  God  for  it;  let  them  rejoice 
that  they  are  called  upon  to  imitate  the  glorious  martyrs,  the  heroes 
of  our  holy  faith.  Let  them  remember,  also,  to  their  consolation, 
that  although  they  are  not  privileged  to  give  their  lives  for  Christ, 
nor  to  endure  the  extremities  of  physical  torture,  of  prison,  of  ban- 
ishment which  the  martyrs  so  nobly  endured,  yet  after  the  pro- 
longed, and  even  life-long  persecution  to  which  they  are  subjected, 
the  coldness  of  friends,  the  loss  of  means  and  position,  the  scornful 
sneers  of  acquaintances,  the  anger  and  harshness  of  relatives,  or 
again  the  political  and  social  disabilities  under  which  they  must 
live — all  these,  and  numerous  other  sufferings  which  the  hatred  of 
the  world  for  the  true  religion  of  Jesus  Christ  frequently  inflicts 
upon  His  followers,  do  truly  assimilate  them  to  the  noble  army 
of  martyrs. 

They  have  not  to  endure  the  keen  and  agonizing  torture  of  fire 
or  knife  or  rack;  but  they  have  to  endure  a  long  and  wearing 
trial ;  and  even  if  no  considerable  loss  or  suffering  falls  to  their  lot, 
there  may  be  a  constant  succession  of  small  and  worrying  acts  of 
petty  persecution  which  constitute,  from  their  frequency,  a  real 
hardship.  These  sufferings,  practically  borne  for  Jesus  Christ, 
will  assuredly  gain  for  them  a  great  reward  in  the  heavenly  king- 
dom. These  times  are  supposed  to  be  liberal,  tolerant,  indifferent  as 
to  a  man's  opinions ;  but  even  now  may  be  found  numerous  instances 


HUMAN  RESPECT  AND  PERSECUTION.  427 

of  persecution.  Our  children  are  often  persecuted  in  the  schools, 
our  young  working  men  and  girls  in  factories  and  workshops. 
Catholics  are  kept  out  of  positions  for  which  their  abilities  make 
them  as  fit  as  anyone  else.  Let  them  not  murmur  nor  repine.  Let 
them,  indeed,  use  all  lawful  means  to  procure  just  treatment,  but 
in  the  meantime  let  them  rejoice  that  they  are  counted  worthy  to 
suffer  something  for  His  Name's  sake. 

I  have  given  instances,  so  far,  of  wilful  or  premeditated  perse- 
cution only,  inflicted  by  those  who  knowingly  or  .ignorantly  are 
actuated  by  hostilities  to  God's  holy  Church.  But  there  is,  as  I 
have  already  said,  another  kind  of  persecution  which  no  one  will 
escape.  And  the  persecutors  are  to  be  found  not  only  among  those 
who  do  not  belong  to  the  Catholic  Church,  but  also,  alas !  within  the 
fold.  It  is  the  persecution  inflicted  by  those  who  live  according  to 
the  flesh  upon  those  who  live  according  to  the  spirit ;  by  the  worldly, 
the  careless  and  the  indifferent  upon  those  who  are  striving  to  be 
faithful  to  the  teachings  of  Jesus.  Together  with  the  active  pre- 
meditated persecution  which  breaks  out  from  time  to  time,  it  is  one 
form  in  which  the  antagonism  of  the  world  and  the  world-spirit 
against  Christ's  truth  and  holiness  is  manifested.  And  it  differs 
from  other  forms  of  persecution  in  this,  that  it  is  constant,  and 
escaped  by  none  who  sincerely  try  to  follow  in  the  footsteps  of  our 
blessed  Lord.  This  is  the  kind  of  persecution  spoken  of  by  the 
Holy  Ghost  through  the  mouth  of  St.  Paul :  "All  that  will  live  godly 
in  Christ  shall  suffer  persecution"  (II  Tim.  iii,  12).  As  long  as  we 
are  in  the  world,  the  world's  low  ideals  of  duty,  low  motives  of 
conduct,  specious  offers  of  temporal  advantage,  of  gain,  or  fame, 
or  ease  and  comfort  are  at  hand  to  tempt  us,  and,  more  than  that, 
are  urged  upon  us,  dinned  into  our  ears  by  an  insistent  never-silent 
voice — the  voice  of  an  all  too  numerous  portion  of  the  society  in 
which  we  live.  It  came  into  my  mind  to  say  "the  voice  of  public 
opinion,"  but  I  would  fain  cling  to  the  idea — I  hope  I  need  not  call 
it  the  delusion — that  public  opinion,  if  truly  roused  to  attention,  and 
rightly  informed,  would  be  on  the  side  of  truth  and  justice  and 
duty.  But,  in  truth,  there  are  two  sorts  of  public  opinion,  a  more 
worthy  and  a  less  worthy,  and  it  is  the  less  worthy  public,  the  public 
of  low  ideals  or  of  no  ideals,  which  is  a  true  persecutor  of  those 
that  strive  "to  live  godly  in  Christ."  This  unworthy  public  opinion, 
and  the  example  of  those  who  live  by  its  maxims,  are  ever  at  hand 
to  draw  us  away  from  the  path  of  Christian  duty,  and  it  finds,  alas, 


428  THE    CREED. 

too  ready  and  too  powerful  an  ally  in  the  evil  inclinations  of  our 
own  fallen  nature. 

This,  then,  is  the  choice  which  is  put  before  us  all :  to  choose  be- 
tween the  world's  ways  of  thinking  and  judging,  between  the 
world's  rules  and  maxims  of  life  and  conduct  on  the  one  hand,  and 
the  mind  of  Jesus  Christ,  the  love  and  maxims  of  His  Gospel  on 
the  other.  In  regard  to  these  things  there  ever  has  been,  and  there 
ever  will  be,  war  between  the  world  and  Christ,  between  the 
worldly  minded  and  the  spiritually  minded. 

And  this  is  why,  my  dear  brethren,  worldliness  is  so  dangerous 
a  thing  for  a  Christian ;  a  thing  to  be  watched  for  in  ourselves,  and 
guarded  against,  and  rooted  out  without  mercy  if  so  be  that  it  has 
come  into  our  hearts.  "No  servant,"  our  divine  Lord  has  said, 
"can  serve  two  masters.  .  .  .  You  can  not  serve  God  and 
mammon"  (Luke  xvi,  13).  You  can  not  be  imbued  with  the  world's 
ways  of  judging  conduct  and  Christ's  ways  of  judging  conduct. 
You  can  not  be  a  true  Christian  and  a  follower  of  this  world  at  the 
same  time. 

But  alas,  we  often  try  to  occupy  this  impossible  position ;  and  we 
are  led  to  do  so  by  what  is  called,  in  the  language  of  spiritual 
writers,  human  respect.  What  is  human  respect?  It  is  "the  in- 
ordinate desire  of  pleasing  men,  or  a  fear  of  displeasing  them, 
whereby  we  are  led  either  to  omit  the  good  we  ought  to  do,  or  to 
do  the  evil  which  we  ought  to  avoid."  In  other  words,  human 
respect  is  that  frame  of  mind  which  leads  us  to  neglect  our  duty  as 
Christians  and  Catholics  for  the  sake  of  what  others  will  say  or 
think  or  do. 

How  terribly  prevalent  this  is!  How  many  sins,  how  much 
neglect  of  Mass,  of  Sacraments,  of  the  precepts  of  the  Church,  such 
as  that  of  fasting  and  abstinence;  how  many  marriages  unblessed 
by  the  Church,  how  many  apostacies,  indeed,  can  be  justly  put  down 
to  human  respect?  It  is  a  thing  which  we  do  not  think  much  of, 
perhaps,  and  about  which  we  have  not  thought  to  examine  our 
conscience.  But  if  we  consider  the  matter,  we  shall  be  surprised, 
upon  a  little  reflection,  to  find  not  only  how  much  evil  human 
respect  causes  in  the  world,  but  also  how  much  more  it  has  in- 
fluenced our  own  conduct  than  ever  we  had  supposed. 

It  will  profit  us  to  look  this  evil  in  the  face.  We  shall  see  that  it 
is  one  of  the  most  effective  weapons  wielded  by  the  devil  for  the 
destruction  of  souls.  Human  respect  is  in  every  way  bad.  To  begin 


HUMAN  RESPECT  AND  PERSECUTION.  429 

with,  by  acting  from  human  respect  we  give  up  our  moral  inde- 
pendence and  liberty;  we  sacrifice  the  "liberty  of  the  children  of 
God,"  the  precious  "freedom  with  which  Christ  hath  made  us  free." 
We  know  very  well  that  the  principles  to  which,  from  motives  of 
human  respect,  we  bow  down  are  such  as  we  are  bound  by  virtue 
of  our  Christian  profession  to  despise  and  renounce,  that  the  per- 
sons to  whom  we  defer  would,  in  fact,  respect  us  far  more  if  we 
stood  firm  and  acted  according  to  our  convictions. 

Secondly,  to  give  way  to  human  respect  shows  great  weakness  of 
judgment  on  the  part  of  those  who  do  it.  We  know  by  experience 
that  it  is  impossible  to  please  everyone.  Why  should  we  try  to 
please  the  less  virtuous,  the  less  sensible  and  the  more  frivolous 
portion  of  the  community?  We  have  not  succeeded  in  the  past  in 
securing  ourselves  from  ill  will  and  adverse  criticism  by  our  en- 
deavors to  please  the  world.  Would  it  not  be  far  wiser  to  give  up 
the  attempt,  and  devote  our  energies  to  pleasing  God  our  Maker 
and  Redeemer  ?  Further,  those  who  are  slaves — for  it  is  a  slavery — 
to  human  respect,  run  the  greatest  risk  of  losing  their  souls.  How 
many  poor  sinners  there  are  who  are  held  in  the  bonds  and  chains 
of  their  sins  because  they  do  not  dare  to  face  the  jeers  and  scoffs, 
or  even  merely  the  ill-natured  remarks  which  their  so-called  friends 
would  direct  at  them  if  they  had  the  courage  to  follow  the  dictates 
of  conscience.  Take  the  sin  of  intemperance:  many  a  man,  aye, 
multitudes  of  men,  have  been  led  into  drunkenness  and  kept  in  it 
because  they  had  not  the  courage  to  say  "No"  to  those  who  asked 
them  to  drink.  How  many,  too,  have  been  led  into  mortal  sin  and 
made  the  slaves  of  vice  because  they  were  too  cowardly  to  set  them- 
selves against  the  practices  of  those  about  them.  They  took  up 
with  a  loose  life  because  they  could  not  bear  a  few  sneers,  which 
would  have  quickly  ceased  had  they  but  ignored  them;  and  they 
stifled  the  voice  of  God  within  them,  calling  them  to  repentance,  from 
dread  of  the  ridicule  of  their  associates  in  sin.  Some  there  are 
who  become  convinced  of  the  truth  of  the  Holy  Catholic  religion, 
and  yet  dare  not  embrace  it  for  fear  of  what  people  will  say ;  many 
more  there  are,  in  all  probability,  who  desist  from  inquiry  into  the 
claims  of  the  Church  because  they  begin  to  feel  themselves  influ- 
enced by  the  reasons  brought  forward.  They  dare  not  run  the  risk 
of  becoming  convinced;  human  respect  holds  them  back,  and  they 
reject  the  grace  offered  to  them. 

Lastly,  my  dear  brethren,  but  by  no  means  least,  we  must  re- 


430  THE    CREED. 

member  that  to  give  way  to  human  respect  is  truly  a  great  offence 
against  the  majesty  of  God.  After  all,  what  does  it  amount  to? 
Nothing  less  than  a  choice  between  God  and  creatures;  between 
the  all-holy  will  of  God  and  the  will — nay,  sometimes  even  the 
mere  whims  and  fancies  of  man.  To  give  way  to  human  respect, 
to  sin  in  order  to  please  the  world,  is  a  complete  overturning  of  the 
order  which  God  has  established  by  creation.  We  were  made  for 
God,  and  for  Him  alone ;  to  know  Him,  to  love  Him,  to  serve  Him. 
All  things  else,  all  other  creatures,  and  our  fellowmen  not  the  least, 
were  created  for  us,  to  be  used  by  us  in  no  other  way  than  as  aids 
to  the  great  end  for  which  each  individual  soul  has  been  called  out 
of  nothingness  into  being  by  the  Almighty  Creator  of  all.  This  is 
the  true  view  of  things,  my  dear  brethren.  If  we  took  that  view 
consistently;  if  we  held  ever  in  remembrance  this  great  foundation 
truth  of  religion — that  we  are  here  to  serve  God,  and  by  serving 
Him  to  save  our  souls,  we  should  not  be  so  ready  to  cast  aside  His 
holy  law  and  commandments  because  one  who  is  equally  with  our- 
selves a  creature  of  the  Almighty  Hand  solicits  us  to  do  so.  Yet 
men  will  sin,  and  do  sin,  because  one  will  say  this,  another  will 
think  that,  a  third  may  do  something  disagreeable,  so  and  so  will 
be  offended.  It  is  the  miserable  choice  of  the  Jews  over  again: 
"Not  this  man,  but  Barabbas.  Give  us  Barabbas  and  let  this  one 
be  crucified."  Not  God's  holy  will,  but  the  desires  of  some  un- 
worthy creature;  not  God's  law,  but  the  law  of  the  world.  When 
we  are  tempted  to  act  from  human  respect  we  should  do  well  to 
recall  the  warning  of  our  blessed  Lord,  that  if  we  deny  Him  before 
men,  He  will  deny  us  before  His  Heavenly  Father. 

We  have,  then,  dear  brethren,  practically  the  same  choice  to 
make  as  the  glorious  martyrs  whom  we  honor.  The  conditions  of 
the  choice  are  different,  but  the  objects  between  which  we  have  to 
choose  are  the  same.  On  the  one  hand  there  is  God,  our  Maker,  our 
Redeemer,  our  Lord,  who  holds  out  to  us  as  the  reward  of  faithful- 
ness a  happiness  beyond  our  present  conception ;  on  the  other  hand 
the  wicked  or  the  unworthy  who  offer  to  us,  as  the  price  of  our 
submission  to  their  standards  of  morality,  the  wholly  uncertain  and 
insecure  reward  of  their  worthless  approval.  Like  the  martyrs, 
then,  we  have  to  make  choice  between  God  and  man;  and  "we 
ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  man."  In  the  same  spirit  as  they, 
the  spirit  of  strong  faith  and  of  personal  love  for  our  blessed  Lord, 
let  us  boldly  take  His  side.  Surely  He  deserves  that  we  should 


HUMAN  RESPECT  AND  PERSECUTION.  43  x 

be  ready  to  lay  down  our  very  lives  for  Him;  yet  often  we  are 
willing  to  betray  His  interests  in  the  hope  of  standing  well  with 
our  fellow  creatures.  Far  from  being  ready  to  suffer  any  great 
thing,  we  can  not  even  bear  a  taunt  for  the  honor  of  His  name. 

"Fear  not  them  who  can  only  kill  the  body,"  says  our  blessed 
Lord ;  and  we  fear  a  harsh  word,  an  unkind  remark,  an  unfavorable 
opinion,  "what  the  world  will  say,"  while  with  the  most  foolish  pre- 
sumption we  put  out  of  mind  the  terrible  punishments  with  which 
the  justice  of  God  must  avenge  the  insult  we  offer  Him  by  pre- 
ferring creatures  before  Him.  Have  done,  my  dear  brethren,  with 
this  miserable  and  unworthy  disposition  of  mind.  It  is  highly 
dangerous  to  the  soul  of  a  Christian.  Even  if  it  does  not  lead  to 
mortal  sin — and,  alas,  too  often  it  does — but  if  not,  how  many 
venial  sins  are  committed  in  consequence  of  it;  and  what  havoc  it 
plays  with  the  spiritual  life.  How  many  souls  there  are  who,  but 
for  this,  would  advance  swiftly  in  the  path  of  true  Christian  perfec- 
tion. They  do  not  allow  human  respect  to  lead  them  into  actual 
sin,  perhaps;  though  it  is  hard  to  see  how  they  can  escape  some 
venial  sin  on  account  of  it;  but  one  thing  is  certain,  that  they  are 
hampered  and  hindered;  they  are  not  generous  with  God,  they  can 
not  bring  themselves  to  make  certain  sacrifices  which  conscience 
tells  them  would  be  very  pleasing  to  God,  and  would  remove  ob- 
stacles from  their  path  toward  a  higher  perfection;  they  make  cer- 
tain reserves  in  their  service  of  God,  and  in  certain  matters  they 
defer  to  the  views  of  the  worldly.  Oh,  all  you  who  sincerely  wish 
to  love  God  well  and  to  do  Him  service  for  the  glory  of  His  name, 
cut  out  this  demon  of  human  respect  if  you  find  it  to  have  gained 
even  a  slight  foothold.  Determine  to  do  what  you  know  to  be  the 
right  thing,  considering  only  what  is  pleasing  to  God  and  beneficial 
to  your  own  souls. 

In  conclusion  let  us  ask  how  we  can  avoid  this  serious  fault  of 
human  respect. 

In  the  first  place  we.  must,  from  the  very  beginning,  take  up  the 
right  position ;  and  with  a  calm  firmness  let  it  be  seen  by  all  that  we 
are  not  to  be  moved  from  it  by  any  worldly  and  unworthy  con- 
siderations whatever.  We  should  take  this  resolution  especially 
when  the  circumstances  of  life  lead  us  to  take  up  our  abode  among 
strangers.  They  will  watch  us ;  and  the  first  few  weeks  will  show 
them,  and  probably  decide  for  us,  whether  we  are  going  to  be  on 
the  side  of  God  or  of  the  world.  When  you,  my  younger  hearers, 


43,  THE   CREED. 

go  forth  into  life,  then,  I  entreat  of  you,  guard  against  human 
respect.  Remember  the  holy  lessons  of  your  youth ;  take  your  stand 
boldly  from  the  first  among  the  followers  of  Jesus  Christ.  How 
many  a  young  man's  life  has  been  wrecked  because  he  was  not 
firm  at  starting.  A  change  of  scene,  even  if  only  temporary,  is 
often  a  source  of  danger.  New  temptations  will  be  at  hand  in  a 
new  place.  New  acquaintances  will  be  there  to  lead  a  man  astray. 
This,  too,  is  an  occasion  for  a  determined  resolution,  from  the  very 
first,  not  to  give  way  to  human  respect.  When,  again,  the  voice  of 
conscience  has  made  itself  heard,  after  a  retreat,  for  instance,  or  a 
mission,  or  some  warning  from  God,  and  we  feel  that  we  must 
change  our  lives,  human  respect  will  not  fail  to  drag  us  back  if  we 
will  allow  it  to  do  so.  What  will  people  say,  if  they  see  me  giving 
up  this  or  that  pleasure ;  if  they  observe  me  frequenting  the  Sacra- 
ments oftener;  if  my  attitude  in  church  becomes  more  devout,  and 
I  am  seen  to  pray?  Care  not,  dear  brother,  what  they  say.  In  a 
week  or  two  they  will  cease  to  say  anything,  and  if  you  persist,  they 
will  respect  you  in  their  heart  of  hearts.  To  avoid  the  dangers, 
then,  of  human  respect,  take  a  firm  stand  at  the  beginning. 

Secondly,  we  must  be  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  faith — practical 
faith;  the  faith  of  one  who  is  convinced  of  the  great  truths  of  our 
holy  religion;  who  has,  by  serious  thought,  made  them  sink  deep 
into  his  heart,  and  whose  will  is  influenced  and  strengthened  by  the 
thought  of  God  and  eternity,  the  value  of  his  soul,  the  great  reward 
and  the  terrible  punishment. 

Thirdly,  we  must  watch  for  this  enemy.  It  may  easily  find  an 
entrance  unperceived.  We  must  check  it  in  regard  to  small  things, 
or  it  will  soon  influence  us  in  greater.  Hence  there  is  an  urgent 
need  of  careful  self-examination  on  this  matter. 

Lastly,  we  must  regularly  and  devoutly  make  use  of  all  the 
means  of  grace,  in  which  we  shall  find  strength.  In  the  strength 
of  these  same  means,  the  glorious  martyrs  went  with  all  courage 
to  a  bitter  and  painful  death ;  and  in  their  strength  we  shall  over- 
come all  forms  of  persecution  and  temptation,  and,  God  helping  us, 
shall  make  the  martyr's  choice,  and  hold  ourselves  ready  on  all 
occasions  to  confess  Him  before  men,  who  one  day  shall  confess  us 
before  the  face  of  our  Father  in  Heaven. 


CHRISTIANITY   THE   SOURCE   OF  CIVILIZATION.         433 


LI.    CHRISTIANITY  THE  SOURCE  OF  CIVILIZATION. 

BY  THE  RIGHT  REV.   JAMES  BELLORD,   D.D. 

"Unless  the  Lord  build  the  house,  they  labor  in  vain  that  build  it.     Un- 
less the  Lord  keep  the  city,  he  watcheth  in  vain  that  keepeth  it"— Psal 

CXXVl,   I. 

SYNOPSIS.— I.  The  incident  of  the  Tower  of  Babel  recorded  in  the  Bible 
shows  clearly  man's  insufficiency  of  himself  and  his  need  of  God  in  all 
his  undertakings.  The  same  can  be  said  of  the  social  life  which  is  a  sift 
of  God. 

II.  History  just  as  clearly  tells  us  of  the  dependence  of  civilisation 
upon  religion. 

III.  The  history  of  the  Jewish  nation  as  told  in  the  Old  Testament 
is  a  strong  confirmation  of  the  same  fact. 

IV.  The  history  of  the  Christian  Church,  showing  what  she  has  done 
for  civilization,  proclaims  the  same  truth. 

V.  Powerful,  unscrupulous  men  of  to-day,  forgetful  of  the  lessons 
of  history,  are  conspiring  to  ruin  the  Church,  to  drive  out  Christ  and 
His  religion.    They  shall  fail;  for  Christianity  is  to  endure  forever,  and 
in  due  time  she  shall  recivilize  the  world,  and  bring  it  back  to  God. 

I.  We  read  in  Genesis  of  a  great  act  of  defiance  against  God, 
when  "the  nations  conspired  together  to  consent  to  wickedness" 
(Wisd.  x,  5)  shortly  after  the  deluge,  and  set  about  building  a 
great  tower  that  was  to  reach  to  heaven.  Men  had  grown  numerous 
and  were  about  to  be  separated,  and  they  wished  in  their  pride  to 
"make  their  name  famous  forever."  Their  tower  was  to  be  a  testi- 
mony to  their  unity  of  origin  and  a  bond  of  union  between  their 
descendants.  It  was  to  be  a  protection,  too,  against  the  wrath  of 
God  in  case  He  should  forget  His  promise  and  attempt  to  destroy 
the  world  again  by  a  deluge.  There  was  grandeur  in  the  idea  of 
so  great  a  monument,  in  spite  of  its  perversity  and  absurdity;  it 
showed  energy,  courage,  perseverance,  industry,  and  that  desire  of 
immortal  remembrance  which  has  prompted  so  many  of  the  greatest 
deeds.  But,  like  many  other  deeds  of  power,  daring,  and  even  of 
genius,  it  was  grievously  wicked.  It  was  undertaken  without  God's 
aid  or  blessing,  by  men  relying  entirely  on  their  own  sufficiency. 
It  was  against  His  will  and  for  their  own  glorification.  It  showed 
mistrust  and  disbelief  in  God's  word,  and  it  set  their  ingenuity  and 
strength  against  the  divine  power  of  wisdom.  But  God  in  a  mo- 


434 


THE   CREED. 


ment  brought  their  design  to  naught  by  a  means  that  they  had  not 
anticipated,  and  separated  them,  tribe  from  tribe,  by  the  change 
of  their  speech.  Union,  intercourse,  society,  became  impossible 
between  the  tribes,  and  they  scattered  themselves,  as  God  had  de- 
signed, over  the  earth.  They  proved  the  truth,  "Unless  the  Lord 
build  the  house,  they  labor  in  vain  that  build  it." 

There  is  a  social  edifice  into  which  men  are  built  up,  forming 
one  community,  with  character  and  habits  and  thoughts  alike,  and 
having  a  common  united  action  as  of  one  person.  It  has  a  life  of 
its  own,  different  from  the  life  of  its  individual  members,  with  a 
regularity  of  growth  and  advancement  and  a  continuity  through  suc- 
cessive generations.  It  is  a  wonderful  thing,  this  unity  of  so  many 
individuals,  each  occupied  with  his  own  affairs,  knowing  nothing 
about  large  numbers  of  his  race,  nor  of  those  who  went  before,  nor 
of  those  who  are  to  follow  him,  yet  all  having  one  corporate  life 
among  them  and  one  character  which  will  be  transmitted  for  fifty 
generations,  substantially  the  same,  but  developing  like  the  char- 
acter of  a  growing  man.  This  is  social  life.  This  constitutes  na- 
tions and  families  of  nations;  this  constitutes,  in  its  progress 
through  the  centuries,  a  civilization.  This  life  is  the  direct  gift  of 
God.  In  its  origin,  its  maintenance,  its  progress,  it  depends  im- 
mediately on  the  recognition  of  God  and  His  laws.  If  this  edifice  be 
built  up  on  any  other  foundation,  or  if,  when  built,  God  is  banished 
from  it,  then  it  is  doomed  to  the  fate  of  the  Tower  of  Confusion. 

II.  History  tells  us  of  many  civilizations  which  grew,  ran  their 
course  and  perished.  The  best  known  were  the  Roman  and  the 
Greek.  Earlier  still  was  the  Egyptian,  lost  in  the  gloom  of  cen- 
turies, beyond  the  reach  almost  of  history,  but  revealed  to  us  now  in 
ruins  and  inscriptions  that  date  back  before  the  time  of  Moses. 
There  was  an  advanced  civilization  of  unknown  antiquity  among 
the  Babylonians,  the  Indians,  and  the  Chinese.  Vestiges  have  been 
discovered  of  vast  civilizations  in  the  new  continents.  But  how- 
ever various  and  widely  separated  they  be,  all  alike  grew  up  around 
and  entwined  with  some  form  of  religion.  Those  religions,  in- 
deed, were  false,  i.  e.,  they  had  become  corrupted  from  the  original 
form  in  which  they  had  been  transmitted  to  the  earliest  men; 
but  they  had  come  from  a  stock  of  truth,  the  primitive  revelation 
of  God  to  men;  and  amid  deficiencies  and  errors,  they  pre- 
served the  fundamental  religious  truths:  of  a  God,  a  moral  law,  a 
future  life,  a  great  sin,  and  a  coming  Redeemer.  Virtues  were 


CHRISTIANITY   THE   SOURCE   OF  CIVILIZATION.         435 

known  and  reverenced,  even  if  not  always  practised — obedience, 
patriotism,  respect  for  authority,  reverence  for  traditional  truths, 
and  above  all  chastity.  Every  religion  had  its  forms  of  solemn 
worship — prayer  and  sacrifice;  though  in  many  cases  these  sank 
into  horrible  debasement  and  cruelty.  In  every  case  religion  was 
part  and  parcel  of  social  life.  It  was  recognized  that  the  super- 
natural, i.  e.,  belief  in  God,  in  divine  laws,  and  future  reward,  was 
the  only  foundation  for  that  self-suppression  which  made  peace,  jus- 
tice and  government  possible.  Some  races  have  never  developed 
into  an  organized  community,  or  discovered  the  arts,  or  commenced 
a  civilization;  but  these  are  just  the  races  which  seem  most  devoid 
of  real  religious  ideas  or  worship.  Hence  it  would  appear  that 
the  first  motive  power  which  elevates  man  above  the  level  of  the 
ant  or  the  beaver  is  the  recognition  of  a  God  and  of  duties  to  Him. 
This  creates  higher  aspirations,  enlightens  the  mind,  and  is  the 
starting  point  of  all  progress. 

III.  The  Old  Testament  records  not  only  the  religious  history 
of  the  Jewish  nation,  but  their  political  history,  and  the  origin, 
growth  and  decay  of  their  social  system.  The  dealings  of  God  with 
this  one  people  teach  us  the  general  laws  of  this  providence  toward 
all  other  nations.  The  chief  reason  is  that  Jewish  civilization  took 
its  origin  in  religion  and  failed  with  it.  When  the  people  forgot 
the  laws  of  God  and  renounced  their  spiritual  duties,  then  social 
and  political  misfortunes  came  upon  them.  Their  safety,  their 
greatness,  their  prosperity,  their  national  life,  depended  entirely 
on  their  fidelity  to  God.  The  great  king,  prophet  and  psalmist 
spoke  literal  truth  and  no  figure — spoke  with  ample  knowledge 
from  past  experience  and  from  insight  into  the  future,  when  he 
said,  "Unless  the  Lord  keep  the  city,  he  watches  in  vain  that  keeps 
it."  All  the  great  calamities  of  the  Jews,  their  fatal  wars,  foreign 
oppression,  the  Babylonian  captivity,  the  loss  of  the  ten  tribes,  the 
final  rejection  and  dispersion,  came  upon  them  in  consequence  of 
their  persistent  refusal  to  allow  God  His  due  place  in  their  civiliza- 
tion. Their  views  were  secular;  they  wished  to  be  as  the  nations 
round  them,  and  to  make  their  life  as  a  nation  natural  instead  of 
supernatural;  they  wished  to  rely  on  the  arm  of  flesh  and  not  on 
God,  to  live  their  life  as  their  own  masters  and  not  as  His  instru- 
ments, to  follow  up  their  material  and  political  interests,  and  not  to 
subserve  the  spiritual  purposes  which  God  had  in  electing  them. 
When  at  last  the  time  came  for  them  to  fulfil  their  destiny,  they 


436 


THE    CREED. 


were  found  unfit  and  unworthy  of  it,  and  others  were  called  to  their 
high  duties  and  their  glory.  It  was  due  to  their  irreligion  that  the 
transition  from  the  Old  to  the  New  Testament  was  not  the  gradual 
transformation  of  the  previous  into  a  more  perfect  system,  but  took 
the  form  of  a  violent  catastrophe,  and  the  destruction  and  rejection 
of  all  belonging  to  the  former  dispensation. 

The  same  principle  which  made  the  Jews  revolt  against  God  in 
the  earlier  times  made  them  turn  from  Jesus  Christ.  They  wanted 
a  powerful,  conquering  Messias,  who  would  break  the  nations  in 
pieces,  and  rule  them  with  a  rod  of  iron,  and  raise  Israel  to  a 
dominant  position  among  the  proud  and  wealthy  nations  of  the 
world.  His  birth  in  the  stable,  His  life  of  lowliness,  His  death  by 
public  execution,  were  a  scandal  and  a  stumbling-block  to  them. 
They  would  not  have  as  their  King  one  who  declared  that  His 
kingdom  was  not  of  this  world,  and  rejecting  what  they  thought 
was  only  spiritual,  they  lost  at  the  same  time  their  succession  to  a 
world-wide  power  and  dominion  in  the  new  social  order  and  its 
civilization.  For  the  Cross  of  Our  Lord's  shame  has  been  the 
greatest  force  in  modeling  even  the  secular  history  of  the  world. 
It  is  the  sign  of  redemption  and  spiritual  life,  but  it  has  another 
function  also;  it  is  the  standard  of  civilization;  it  is  the  source 
from  which  has  risen  all  that  is  good  in  the  modern  world.  Religion 
can  not  confine  itself  to  what  is  called  its  own  sphere.  Its  proper 
and  immediate  object  is  the  salvation  of  souls,  but  it  can  not  work 
out  that  end  without  elevating  every  faculty  of  human  life,  it  can 
not  regenerate  individual  souls  without  regenerating  society. 
Wherever  the  religious  man  passes,  on  his  way  to  eternity,  religion 
passes  with  him  and  influences  his  action.  For  fifteen  hundred 
years  the  prevailing  idea  that  filled  men's  minds  in  governing  and 
obeying,  in  business  as  in  religion,  was  that  Jesus  the  Son  of  God 
has  died  to  save  us,  that  we  must  love  all  men  for  His  sake,  that  this 
life  is  temporary,  and  that  our  chief  duty  is  to  save  our  souls.  It 
was  under  the  influence  of  these  ideas  that  the  civilization  we  now 
enjoy  grew  up.  Thus  "the  stone  which  the  builders  rejected,  the 
same  is  become  the  head  of  the  corner"  (Ps.  cxvii,  22).  The  re- 
ligion which  was  too  spiritual  and  too  austere  and  too  wide  for  the 
carnal,  narrow-minded  Jews,  has  given  birth  to  all  the  advantages 
which  our  civilization  contains.  The  Gentiles,  who  expected  to  re- 
ceive only  the  kingdom  of  God  and  the  justice  thereof,  found  that 
all  other  things  were  added  to  them.  So  it  was  that  Solomon  asked 


CHRISTIANITY  THE  SOURCE  OF  CIVILIZATION.        437 

only  wisdom  from  the  Lord,  and  was  endowed  also  with  wealth  and 
power  and  glory  beyond  all  the  kings  who  went  before  him  or  fol- 
lowed after  him. 

IV.  When  the  Christian  Church  emerged  from  her  cradle  of 
persecution  and  girded  herself  for  her  work,  she  found  that  her 
inheritance  was  a  world  in  ruins.  Everything  had  decayed.  Re- 
ligion, both  revealed  and  natural,  all  virtue  and  morality,  political 
and  domestic  life,  every  bond  that  bound  man  to  man.  Corruption 
of  all  kind  prevailed,  selfishness,  cruelty,  uncleanness.  The  whole 
world,  pagan  and  Jewish,  was  groaning  with  anguish  and  looking 
for  the  coming  of  some  divine  power  to  renew  all  things ;  but  men 
would  not  recognize  their  deliverer  in  the  person  of  the  Christian 
Church,  and  kept  her  in  bondage  for  well  nigh  three  centuries. 
Then  came  the  torrent  of  pagan  barbarism  from  north  and  east, 
which  completed  the  destruction  with  fire  and  sword.  Vandals  and 
Goths,  Huns  and  Saxons,  Lombards  and  AraBs  broke  up  the  great 
empire  of  Rome  into  fragments,  and  then  struggled  till  they 
founded  kingdoms  for  themselves.  Then  Europe  recommenced 
afresh.  The  Church  proceeded  to  create  order  out  of  choas.  She 
first  converted  the  barbarians,  then  helped  them  to  organize  govern- 
ments and  make  laws;  by  degrees  she  abolished  slavery  and  serf- 
dom, and  established  liberty  and  equality.  It  was  through  the 
bishops  that  the  Magna  Charta  was  won  in  England,  and  the  Fueros, 
or  local  liberties,  in  Spain.  In  the  struggles  for  political  rights  the 
Church  was  always  the  defender  of  the  weak  and  disinherited.  The 
Popes  were  recognized  as  arbiters  and  peacemakers  of  Europe,  and 
their  authority  often  restrained  ambitious  states,  protected  weak 
ones,  settled  conflicting  claims,  averted  or  intervened  in  wars,  saved 
immense  bloodshed  and  prevented  stagnation  and  retrogression. 
The  codes  of  law  that  prevail  in  Europe  to  this  day  were  drawn 
up  from  the  Roman  law  and  the  Canon  Law  of  the  Church.  Cruel 
and  immoral  kings  were  restrained  and  taught  their  duties  to  their 
subjects;  and  the  subjects  in  turn  were  taught  the  duty  of  obedi- 
ence, together  with  the  sense  of  their  own  dignity  and  their  rights. 
The  religious  orders  founded  their  convents  in  the  wildest  spots, 
cleared  the  forests,  drained  the  marshes,  imported  new  plants  and 
animals,  gathered  the  peasants  about  them  into  villages  to  protect 
them  from  the  robber-barons,  and  trained  them  to  agriculture. 
More  especially  they  taught  the  lesson  that  poverty  was  honorable, 
that  there  was  dignity  in  labor,  and  that  there  were  other  pursuits 


43  8  THE   CREED. 

besides  killing  and  being  killed  that  were  worthy  of  the  attention  of 
men.  The  labor  of  cities  was  organized  in  the  guilds  of  religious 
confraternities  and  the  balance  held  fairly  between  master  and 
man,  between  supply  and  demand.  The  poor  were  cared  for  by 
the  monasteries  or  special  asylums;  their  state  was  declared  to  be 
holy,  to  have  its  rights,  and  to  be  honorable  though  receiving  charity. 
The  Church  re-established  learning  at  a  time  when  men  respected 
only  brute  force.  She  founded  schools  and  universities  everywhere, 
offered  education  to  all,  selected  the  most  promising  students  from 
every  rank  and  opened  great  careers  before  them.  She  also  created 
art  in  all  its  branches,  painting,  sculpture,  architecture,  music ;  sup- 
plying inspiration  to  them  from  her  doctrines  and  consecrating 
them  in  her  worship.  It  must  suffice  to  say  that  every  science — 
geography  and  history,  literature  and  philosophy,  medicine  and 
astronomy  owes  its  original  creation  and  much  of  its  present  ad- 
vancement to  the  encouragement  of  Roman  Pontiffs  and  the  labors 
of  monks  and  priests.  At  the  same  time  the  moral  character  of 
Christendom  was  formed.  The  universal  fatherhood  of  God  and 
the  brotherhood  of  all  men  were  set  forth.  The  figure  of  the 
Virgin  Mother  of  God  was  placed  before  women  who  had  been 
degraded  by  paganism,  and  they  saw  in  her  the  sweet  ideal  of  purity 
for  the  Christian  maiden,  and  of  dignity  for  the  Christian  wife. 
From  faith  and  charity  were  developed  unselfishness,  generosity, 
self-sacrifice,  obedience,  respect,  courtesy,  honesty,  truth,  courage, 
endurance,  resignation,  and  all  those  virtues  which  dignify  man 
and  give  cohesion  to  societies.  Thus  did  Christianity  continue 
steadily  for  centuries,  slowly  building  up  a  multifarious  civilization, 
through  many  vicissitudes  of  persecution  and  opposition,  calamities 
and  scandals,  meeting  every  need,  relieving  every  burden,  antici- 
pating every  danger.  She  was  the  light  of  all  darkness,  the  cure 
of  all  evils,  the  starting  point  of  all  progress,  the  creator  of  modern 
Europe.  Her  work  succeeded  gloriously  because  the  house  she 
built  was  built  by  the  Lord,  and  the  city  which  she  kept  was 
guarded  by  the  Lord.  The  life  which  Christianity  infused  into  the 
social  system  and  into  civilization  was  not  natural  merely,  but  it 
was  supernatural  life  from  God,  vigorous,  wholesome,  progressive 
and  permanent. 

A  religious  idea  seems,  then,  to  be  a  necessary  factor  in  starting 
a  civilization.  Our  civilization  certainly  was  originated  and  molded, 
and  is  now  characterized,  by  the  Christian  idea.  The  principles 


CHRISTIANITY   THE   SOURCE   OF   CIVILIZATION.         439 

which  rule  the  origin,  rule  also  the  existence  of  a  thing;  its  life 
depends  on  the  maintenance  of  these  principles.  Christianity  and 
European  civilization  are,  therefore,  so  bound  together  that  they 
can  not  be  separated.  You  can  not  change  the  foundation  of  the 
social  edifice  without  destroying  it.  Religion  may  indeed  be  up- 
rooted in  separate  countries,  or  perhaps  even  in  the  whole  society 
of  the  western  world,  as  it  has  already  perished  in  various  places; 
but  with  it  the  whole  structure  of  society  and  of  civilization  must 
fall.  The  general  character  of  a  community,  and  its  vitality  even, 
depend  on  some  great  idea  or  group  of  ideas  that  has  taken  root  in 
the  hearts  of  its  members  and  spread  through  all  the  channels  of 
their  life ;  such,  for  instance,  as  the  idea  of  independence  or  the  call 
to  a  career  of  conquest.  If  that  idea  fails,  all  the  action  and  all  the 
qualities  that  proceeded  from  it  will  fail,  and  the  nation  itself  will 
languish  and  wither.  The  Christian  faith,  Christian  models,  and 
Christian  virtues,  have  entered  into  all  our  laws,  customs,  aspira- 
tions, language ;  they  have  originated  all  these  habits  of  mind  which 
have  raised  us  to  our  present  elevation.  If  the  source  of  all  this 
should  be  cut  off,  then  the  qualities  resulting  from  it  will  fail,  and 
all  that  we  have  achieved  by  them  during  so  many  centuries  will 
be  lost.  The  material  part  might  indeed  remain,  wealth  and  the 
means  of  amassing  it,  but  all  that  belongs  to  the  higher  life  of  man, 
and  that  conduces  to  contentment,  peace,  good  order,  nobleness  and 
happiness,  would  certainly  disappear;  and  society  would  grow  cor- 
rupt, wallow  in  the  most  disgraceful  vices,  and  become  a  hell  upon 
earth,  like  the  old  pagan  society  of  Rome  just  before  the  dawn  of 
Christianity.  The  words  of  Our  Lord  apply,  not  only  to  those 
who  cast  Him  forth  from  their  religious  life,  but  also  to  those  who 
would  destroy  the  divine  element  out  of  social  life :  "He  that  abideth 
in  me  and  I  in  him,  the  same  beareth  much  fruit:  for  without  me 
you  can  do  nothing.  If  anyone  abide  not  in  me,  he  shall  be  cast 
forth  as  a  branch,  and  shall  wither,  and  they  shall  gather  him  up, 
and  cast  him  into  the  fire"  (John  xv,  5,  6). 

V.  To  sever  the  branch  from  the  vine,  to  cut  off  the  influx  of 
divine  life  into  civilization  by  destroying  Christianity  is  the  object 
of  a  large,  powerful,  unscrupulous  body  of  men.  They  wish  to 
emancipate  the  mind  from  the  tutelage  of  faith,  the  conduct  from 
the  restraints  of  virtue,  and  to  cast  off  that  which,  although  easy 
and  light,  is  still  a  yoke  and  a  burden  to  them.  Blind  ministers  of 
Satan,  they  seek  to  destroy  the  action  of  God  in  society,  and  so 


44o  THE    CREED. 

would  destroy  society  itself,  by  substituting  the  spirit  of  the  flesh, 
the  spirit  of  worldlings,  and  the  spirit  of  the  devil,  for  the  spirit  of 
goodness,  of  justice,  and  of  truth.  They  speak  indeed  of  liberty, 
of  enlightenment,  of  happiness,  but  their  moving  principles  are 
pride,  lust,  hatred  of  God  and  of  His  Son  Jesus  Christ.  They  forget 
that  Christianity  has  elevated  every  department  of  human  life,  and 
provided  for  all  the  wants  of  a  growing  society;  they  turn  round 
upon  her  to  rend  her  for  being  their  mother.  They  denounce  the 
domination  of  Christianity  as  a  usurpation,  its  guidance  as  a  slavery, 
its  enlightenment  as  darkness ;  and,  like  the  Jews,  they  will  not 
allow  a  supernatural  king  to  reign  over  their  natural  life.  They 
will  accept  indeed  the  gifts  with  which  Christianity  has  endowed 
them,  but  they  will  henceforth  go  their  own  way,  trusting  to  human 
powers  alone.  If  ever  they  should  succeed  in  their  purpose  they 
will  find,  not  that  they  have  improved  and  elevated  civilization,  nor 
that  they  have  changed  its  principles  and  its  foundation,  but  that 
they  have  destroyed  it.  "Unless  the  Lord  build  the  house,  they 
labor  in  vain  that  build  it" ;  and  any  edifice  of  human  society  com- 
menced without  God,  and  in  opposition  to  God,  will  be  only  an- 
other Tower  of  Babel,  and  will  end,  like  that  attempt,  in  the  con- 
fusion and  dispersion  of  its  builders. 

God  has  not  made  known  to  us  the  secrets  of  the  future ;  we  can 
not  foresee  the  issue  of  this  war  against  Christian  civilization.  Of 
this  we  are  absolutely  certain,  that  Christianity  is  immortal,  because 
Jesus  Christ  is  with  it  all  days,  even  to  the  end  of  the  world ;  and 
the  gates  of  hell,  therefore,  shall  never  prevail  against  it.  Still,  the 
light  of  Christianity  may  be  extinguished  in  this  or  that  country 
which  has  proved  unworthy  to  retain  it,  and  indeed  it  generally 
happens  that  a  gradually  increasing  unworthiness  grows  at  last  into 
a  complete  unworthiness.  So  it  was  with  the  Jews.  As  Israel  was 
too  far  gone  to  receive  the  new,  austere,  sublime  religion  of  the 
Messias,  as  the  Roman  society  was  too  corrupted  to  be  renewed 
again  to  penance  and  to  life;  as  both  rejected  Jesus  Christ  and  were 
swept  away,  and  their  privileges  given  to  other  nations  producing 
the  fruits  thereof ;  so  it  may  be  with  this  generation.  However  this 
be,  Christianity  is  a  living  force,  she  has  a  special  power  for  creat- 
ing and  guiding  civilization;  that  power  will  not  be  frustrated,  it 
must  have  its  scope.  The  great  ideas  embodied  in  Christianity  will 
energize  in  the  minds  and  hearts  of  some,  will  spread  abroad,  and 
transform  the  multitudes  of  men.  Whether  they  will  do  this  work 


CHRISTIANITY   THE  SOURCE  OF  CIVILIZATION.        441 

upon  the  old  society,  or  on  a  fresh,  youthful  one,  replacing  the  old, 
we  can  not  say.  Perhaps  the  old  society  may  yet  be  renewed  unto 
penance  and  return  like  the  prodigal;  but  if  it  will  not  admit  the 
divine  life,  it  must,  like  all  human  and  natural  things,  corrupt  and 
die.  In  any  case  a  reorganization  of  human  society  will  be  necessary 
and  the  Church  of  Christ  alone  is  capable  of  it.  When  the  horn 
sounds  she  will  gird  her  loins  once  more,  and  go  forth  to  renew  the 
face  of  the  earth,  regenerating  it  by  the  Gospel,  and  creating  a  new, 
and  perhaps  a  higher,  civilization. 


442 


THE    CREED. 


LII.    CATHOLICS  THE  SALT  OF  THE  EARTH. 

BY  .THE  RIGHT   REV.    JAMES  BELLORD,   D.D. 
"You  are  the  salt  of  the  earth." — Matt.  v.  13. 

SYNOPSIS. — All  Christians  are  placed  by  God  among  their  fellowmen  to 
be  the  salt  of  the  earth. 

I.  Their  duty  is  to  influence,  penetrate,  preserve  from  putrefaction 
the  world,  and  to  impart  to  it  the  savor  of  Christ. 

II.  Though  small  in  numbers  comparatively,  the  Church  is  yet  power- 
ful enough  to  do  her  great  work.    More  powerful  even  because  of  hef 
littleness,  she  is  always  stronger  and  more  vigorous  in  timef  of  persf- 
cution.     The  work  the  Church  has  done  as  a  leavener. 

HI.  The  duty  before  us  at  the  present  time.  The  wicked,  degraded 
state  of  society.  Our  duty  to  enlighten  and  elevate,  to  proclaim  the 
power  of  Christ  and  of  His  religion.  No  one  too  small,  too  weak  for 
the  work.  God  always  uses  the  weak.  The  work  of  the  weak  in  nature. 
So  likewise  in  the  Church,  courage,  good  will,  prayer  and  sacrifice  needed. 
Success  sure  to  crown  our  efforts. 

These  words  of  Our  Lord  define  a  great  power  which  His  fol- 
lowers possess,  and  consequently  a  great  duty,  that  of  using  this 
power.  We  might  suppose  that  this  power  and  duty  belong  exclus- 
ively to  the  Apostles,  who  were  the  messengers  and  representatives 
of  Christ,  depositories  of  His  authority,  commissioned  to  convert 
the  world  and  rule  it  spiritually.  But  this  word  was  not  spoken 
to  the  Apostles  alone;  it  is  part  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  a 
public  discourse  in  which  the  principles  of  the  Christian  Church 
were  laid  down  for  the  guidance  of  all  its  members.  To  all  and  to 
each  of  us  Our  Lord  has  said :  "You  are  the  salt  of  the  earth."  Let 
us  consider  His  meaning  and  the  obligation  He  lays  upon  us. 

I.  Salt  is  a  very  important  element  of  food.  It  must  be  used 
with  all  other  kinds  of  food,  both  animal  and  vegetable.  It  is  neces- 
sary for  the  healthiness  of  food,  it  preserves  it  from  corruption, 
seasons  it,  destroys  insipidity,  draws  out  its  flavor.  Sweet  things 
may  be  more  pleasant,  but  they  are  not  so  necessary  or  so  whole- 
some ;  and  they,  too,  though  opposed  in  character  to  salt,  require  to 
be  seasoned  with  it.  This  is  the  function  of  Christ's  followers  in 
the  world,  to  influence  it,  and  penetrate  it  by  their  example,  to  check 
putrefaction,  to  season  it  by  imparting  the  good  savor  of  Jesus 
Christ.  It  is  the  function,  not  of  the  Church  only  in  its  corporate 


CATHOLICS  THE  SALT  OF  THE  EARTH.       443 

capacity,  but  of  each  individual  acting  separately,  according  to  the 
talents  and  vocation  that  God  has  given  him. 

Salt  is  a  thing  that  is  necessarily  used  in  small  quantities  to  pro- 
duce its  due  effect.  The  amount  used  is  quite  out  of  proportion  to 
the  amount  of  other  substances  which  it  affects;  it  is  sometimes 
almost  imperceptible.  In  like  manner  the  Church  is  a  small  body, 
a  little  flock  among  the  multitudes  who  are  in  opposition  to  Christ. 
This  is  one  of  its  qualities  as  laid  down  by  our  blessed  Lord,  a 
quality  that  it  possesses  at  all  times.  When  we  look  back  to  other 
ages,  or  abroad  to  other  lands,  we  find  localities  where  the  spirit  of 
true  Christianity  is  predominant  and  actuates  the  whole  community, 
we  learn  of  times  when  divisions  in  faith  were  unknown,  and  all 
Christendom  acknowledged  one  sole  religious  authority.  Yet  even 
then,  while  the  Church  was  great  and  omnipresent,  there  was  a  true 
sense  in  which  it  was  small.  When  the  proportion  of  its  adherents 
was  largest  the  Church  had  perhaps  a  greater  proportion  of  enemies ; 
and  those  were  the  more  dangerous  because  they  were  enemies  in 
the  household.  Many,  while  nominally  members  of  the  one  fold, 
were  really  ravening  wolves,  false  friends,  whose  attachment  to  re- 
ligion was  no  more  than  the  hope  of  growing  fat  upon  its  spoils. 
They  were  in  the  Church,  but  not  of  it,  belonging  to  it  by  the  mere 
accident  of  birth,  possessing  a  weak  faith  that  never  bore  fruits  in 
devotion,  or  obedience,  or  virtue ;  plague-spots  of  corruption,  sources 
of  horrible  scandal,  the  worst  enemies  of  Christianity.  Under  other 
circumstances  these  men  would  have  ranged  themselves  as  open 
enemies  of  the  Church  in  some  form  of  schism,  or  heresy,  or 
infidelity. 

This  being  the  case,  it  is  for  the  advantage  of  the  Church  that 
her  numbers  be  small,  that  she  be  really  the  little  flock  of  Jesus 
Christ.  This,  perhaps,  is  one  of  the  chief  conditions  of  her  success 
appointed  by  Our  Lord.  It  is  a  great  weakness  to  an  army  to  be 
encumbered  with  a  number  of  camp  followers,  who  help  to  con- 
sume the  provisions,  lend  no  aid  in  battle,  and  embarrass  the  move- 
ments of  the  troops.  It  is  next  thing  to  fatal  when  a  considerable 
part  of  the  army  consists  of  unfaithful  allies,  who  are  prepared  to 
turn  their  arms  against  their  own  side  and  go  over  to  the  enemy 
in  the  heat  of  action.  In  such  cases  the  largeness  of  a  military 
force  contributes  to  its  defeat.  The  smallness  of  an  army  in  a 
hostile  country  implies  concentration  of  energy,  greater  watchful- 
ness, stronger  resolution,  which  add  to  the  chances  of  success. 


THE   CREED. 

Times  of  misfortune  are  just  the  times  when  the  Church  renews 
her  strength  and  prepares  herself  for  fresh  conquests.  When  she  is 
cut  down  to  narrow  limits,  oppressed  and  unpopular,  when  she  is 
struggling  for  her  primary  rights,  or  perhaps  for  existence,  then 
she  offers  no  attraction  to  the  worldly  wise,  to  self-seekers,  to 
cowards,  to  the  insincere;  such  men  will  drop  away,  and  the  loss 
of  them  is  a  purification  and  a  gain  in  strength.  Those  who  remain 
will  be  such  as  have  chosen  their  lot  deliberately  and  not  fallen  into 
it  by  accident;  they  will  be  staunch,  courageous,  earnest,  ready  to 
face  all  opposition  and  to  suffer  all  things  for  their  convictions. 
The  Church,  like  the  vine,  is  periodically  pruned  down,  almost,  as 
it  would  seem,  to  destruction;  and  the  result  is,  that  she  is  pre- 
vented from  running  into  an  abundance  of  useless  wood,  and 
brings  forth  a  greater  harvest  of  luscious,  fragrant  grapes. 

Such  times  are  times  of  special  fervor  and  prayer,  and  so,  of  the 
accumulation  of  supernatural  strength.  They  are  times  of  edifica- 
tion, of  glory  for  the  Church;  for  the  qualities  which  shine  in  her 
and  are  taken  by  men  as  her  characteristics,  are,  not  the  vices  of 
her  disobedient  and  nominal  subjects,  but  the  splendid  virtues  which 
her  real  teaching  engenders  in  faithful  souls.  The  days  which 
glow  with  greatest  brilliance  in  the  annals  of  religion,  which  stir 
our  spirits  and  touch  our  hearts,  are  the  days  of  persecution  and 
smallness  of  the  Church,  as  in  Rome  of  old,  in  Ireland,  in  China, 
in  the  Germany  and  France  of  to-day. 

If,  then,  we  find  ourselves  a  little  flock  in  the  world  at  large,  in 
our  particular  country,  or  in  the  locality  that  surrounds  our  homes, 
let  this  not  be  an  obstacle  to  our  efforts,  or  a  discouragement.  If 
we  are  more  marked,  we  shall  have  the  more  influence ;  if  we  really 
make  ourselves  by  holiness  the  salt  of  the  earth,  the  small  quantity 
of  this  salt  will  be  sufficient  to  do  the  work  desired  by  God  in  the 
midst  of  the  great  mass  of  other  material. 

II.  Salt  is  exceedingly  penetrating;  a  small  quantity  seasons  a 
large  amount  of  food.  In  this  quality  it  resembles  the  leaven,  also 
used  as  a  comparison  by  Our  Lord,  which  is  hidden  in  the  midst  of 
three  measures  of  meal  and  leavens  the  whole.  The  smallness  of 
the  Church  is  the  cause  of  its  having  such  a  power  of  penetration. 
That  same  power  resides  in  each  one  of  us.  A  good  Catholic  life, 
formed  by  divine  grace  and  acting  through  prayer  and  good  ex- 
ample, should  be  one  of  the  most  potent  influences  for  good  among 
the  masses  of  mankind ;  and  there  is  no  reason  outside  a  man's  own 


CATHOLICS  THE  SALT  OF  THE  EARTH.  445 

free  will  why  he  should  not,  in  his  own  special  way,  lead  such  a  life. 

It  is  wonderful  what  one  man  can  do  against  the  world.  Without 
counting  these  few  men  of  astonishing  genius  who  have  started 
some  new  idea,  persevered  till  they  have  impressed  it  on  their  gene- 
ration, and  inaugurated  gigantic  changes;  without  speaking  of  the 
saints,  whose  personality  by  God's  grace  has  been  so  strong  as  to 
form  the  characters  of  thousands  during  the  course  of  twenty 
generations,  we  may  contemplate  with  wonder  the  humbler  in- 
fluence which  Catholics  of  holy  life  have  exerted  on  their  sur- 
roundings. An  influence  of  this  kind  is  within  the  power  of  every 
man.  A  distinct  belief,  strong  convictions,  perseverance  in  doing 
good  by  every  means  that  comes  to  hand,  fearlessness,  readiness 
to  suffer  for  what  is  right,  these  are  not  too  much  to  expect  from 
every  Catholic,  considering  the  nature  of  his  faith  and  the  efficacy 
of  the  Sacraments ;  and  these  are  the  greatest  forces  in  the  universe. 
Any  cause  ought  to  prosper  in  the  hands  of  such  men  as  Catholics 
ought  to  be ;  the  best  of  causes  would  fail  if  it  were  in  the  hands  of 
such  timid,  selfish,  time-serving  men  as  many  Catholics  actually  are. 
Those  who  take  their  opinions  from  religious  men  and  news- 
papers, who  wish  to  be  like  other  men,  who  will  not  do  more  than 
they  are  bound  to  do,  who  are  fearful  of  giving  offence,  who  will 
not  risk  anything  in  God's  cause,  such  are  not  the  salt  of  the  earth ; 
they  will  do  no  good  work  in  the  world.  Yet  such  as  these  are 
numerous,  they  even  constitute  a  very  large  proportion  of  certain 
communities. 

In  the  early  days  the  wonderful  progress  of  Christianity  was  due 
in  a  very  important  degree  to  the  action  of  individual  private  Chris- 
tians. They  were  few,  they  were  vigorous,  and  they  prevailed. 
Each  man  was  an  Apostle,  each  set  himself  resolutely  against  the 
prevailing  error  of  his  times,  idolatry.  They  would  make  no  terms 
with  it,  they  spoke  against  it,  they  separated  themselves  from  it, 
though  this  involved  their  segregation  from  the  dignities,  pleasures 
and  careers  of  their  fellow  citizens,  and  almost  from  the  life  of  the 
world.  They  struggled,  asserted  themselves  and  died;  but  they 
moved  the  admiration  of  mankind  by  their  heroism,  and  won  them 
by  their  gentle  charity.  Their  ideas  were  adopted  by  degrees,  the 
faith  advanced,  and  at  the  end  of  three  centuries  the  Roman  Empire 
was  subdued  to  Christ.  A  passage  of  Seneca  about  the  Jews,  quoted 
by  St.  Augustine,  aptly  describes  the  successful  struggle  of  the 
early  Christians.  "To  such  an  extent  has  the  custom  of  life  of  this 


446  THE    CREED. 

most  villainous  race  prevailed  that  it  has  come  to  be  recognized  all 
over  the  world:  the  vanquished  have  imposed  their  laws  on  the 
victors." 

In  the  same  way  is  the  Church  of  Christ  advancing  at  this  present 
day.  About  a  hundred  years  ago  it  seemed  to  be  at  the  last  gasp. 
History  and  science,  legislation  and  learning,  calumny  and  ridicule, 
directed  their  powers  to  its  destruction.  In  certain  countries  the 
same  process  is  still  going  on  with  considerable  success.  But  see  in 
other  places  how  the  tide  has  turned.  The  "most  villainous  race," 
as  it  used  to  be  considered,  has  gained  the  widest  respect.  It  has 
lived  down  prejudice,  reformed  persecuting  laws,  refuted  false- 
hoods, converted  innumerable  opponents.  Put  together  the  admis- 
sions and  the  praises  extorted  from  its  enemies,  and  they  will  form 
a  complete  defense  of  the  whole  system  of  Catholic  life  and  practice. 
Catholic  ideas  have  been  by  turns  rejected  with  scorn,  then  recon- 
sidered, tolerated,  and  at  last  widely  adopted.  There  is  hardly  a 
form  of  modern  religion,  from  the  crudest  and  lowest  imitation  of 
Christianity  up  to  those  that  now  claim  our  name  and  aspire  to 
equal  brotherhood  with  us,  which  does  not  bear  visible  marks  of 
the  influence  of  Catholic  models.  This  result  has  been  brought 
about,  not  by  the  united  body  of  all  Catholics  (for  very  many  have 
done  more  toward  preventing  than  forwarding  it),  not  by  a  few 
men  of  towering  genius,  but  by  the  writings,  the  conversation,  the 
good  works,  the  example,  the  prayers  of  the  many  fervent  ones  scat- 
tered here  and  there  like  particles  of  salt  gradually  seasoning  the 
whole  mass. 

III.  i.  Let  us  now  look  at  the  task  that  stands  before  ourselves. 
We  are  a  few  in  the  midst  of  an  alien  world.  Its  multitudes  are 
sunk  in  materialism,  grossness,  folly,  in  the  deepest  ignorance  of 
all  that  is  spiritual  and  divine.  They  are  full  of  malice  and  preju- 
dice, abandoned  to  greed  and  sensuality  and  conceit  in  themselves ; 
their  principles  are  evil,  their  views  are  low ;  the  nobler  virtues  are 
unknown  to  them;  such  goodness  as  they  have  is  merely  natural, 
imperfect,  or  wrongly  directed.  "The  whole  world,"  as  St.  John 
says  and  our  observation  witnesses,  "is  seated  in  wickedness" 
(I  John  v,  19).  From  this  origin  proceed  all  these  horrible  evils 
which  ravage  humanity — misery  and  crime,  the  disorganization  of 
commerce  and  wealth  and  government,  social  discords,  and  moral 
putrefaction. 

We,  the  members  of  Christ's  one  true  Church,  have  the  high  duty, 


CATHOLICS  THE  SALT  OF  THE  EARTH.  447 

which  we  should  not  leave  to  others,  of  leavening  and  gradually 
changing  all  this.  We,  a  few  scattered  units  or  communities  few  in 
comparison  with  the  great  bulk  of  the  world,  of  no  account,  despised 
and  suspected  and  hated,  with  small  resources  and  little  influence, 
we  have  to  do  this  great  work.  Those  who  have  their  daily  occu- 
pations to  attend  to,  their  bread-winning  and  the  cares  of  others, 
who  are  not  professional  teachers  or  apostles,  whose  lives  are  spent 
in  their  own  homes  or  in  places  of  business,  they  all  are  required 
by  God  to  be  the  salt  of  the  earth.  Few  and  weak,  they  are  what 
God  requires  for  His  purposes.  It  is  now  as  it  was  in  the  early 
days  and  ever  since:  "Not  many  wise  according  to  the  flesh,  not 
many  mighty,  not  many  noble ;  but  the  foolish  things  of  this  world 
hath  God  chosen  that  he  may  confound  the  wise;  and  the  weak 
things  of  the  world  hath  God  chosen  that  he  may  confound  the 
strong"  (I  Cor.  i,  26,  27). 

To  such  is  committed  the  task  of  infusing  into  the  seething  mass 
of  corruption  the  germs  of  new  life,  of  making  healthy  what  is 
unsound,  of  stopping  the  advance  of  putrefaction,  of  sweetening 
and  preserving.  Theirs  is  the  task  of  enlightening  and  elevating 
the  dark,  mean  lives  of  others;  theirs  to  give  an  example  of  high 
principles  and  constancy  in  carrying  them  out,  to  place  a  higher 
ideal  before  men,  and  show  the  possibilities  that  are  open  to  those 
who  have  good  will  and  God's  grace.  They  have  to  draw  men  first 
to  admire  and  then  to  practise  truth,  honesty,  purity,  unselfishness, 
devotedness  and  religion;  and  to  show  how  passions  can  be  re- 
strained and  Christ  manifested  in  our  mortal  bodies;  and  through 
these  means  they  have  to  try  and  remedy  the  ills  of  society,  to  right 
its  wrongs,  and  promote  justice  and  charity. 

2.  Does  this  seem  too  great  a  work  for  you  to  do  ?  Do  you  think 
yourselves  too  small,  too  weak,  too  much  occupied,  too  little  en- 
dowed for  so  important  a  duty  ?  Remember  the  concentrated  power 
there  is  in  each  grain  of  salt;  remember  the  great  effects  produced 
by  a  multitude  of  small  causes  working  together  and  continuously. 

Do  not  say  that  you  have  no  opportunities,  that  your  deficiencies 
are  too  great,  that  your  position  precludes  you  from  doing  what 
you  would  wish.  Have  you  tried  to  do  some  good?  Have  you 
asked  God  to  show  you  a  work  to  do?  Are  you  ready  to  sacrifice 
yourself  in  His  service?  You  can  not  expect  an  employer  of  labor 
to  assign  you  a  task  and  direct  you,  unless  you  first  offer  yourself 
to  him. 


448  THE    CREED. 

Do  not  disbelieve  in  your  efficiency  because  you  can  not  show 
tangible  results  from  it  to-day  or  to-morrow.  The  work  of  God 
takes  time,  it  develops  slowly  and  unseen.  Who  can  measure  one 
day's  growth  of  a  gigantic  tree,  one  of  the  forest  monarchs?  Yet 
every  hour  of  sunshine,  every  single  dewdrop  has  added  something 
to  its  life  during  five  hundred  years.  Who  can  trace  what  each 
man  has  contributed  to  the  slow  advance  of  those  great  ideas  which 
rise  imperceptibly  and  at  last  take  possession  of  mankind?  It  is 
by  such  slow  degrees  that  the  Church  of  Christ  has  gained  all  its 
victories. 

Do  not  think  you  are  useless  because  you  can  not  do  what  God's 
great  champions  have  done  in  His  cause,  or  because  you  have  not 
the  chances  that  this  or  that  man  has.  Every  man's  task  is  different, 
each  has  to  serve  God  in  his  own  particular  way ;  and  there  is  some- 
thing for  you  to  do,  whatever  be  your  position  or  your  deficiencies. 

You  may  say  that  you  can  do  but  little.  That  is  precisely  what 
is  wanted.  Those  who  can  do  but  little  are  the  great  strength  of 
every  cause.  All  nature  shows  us  the  power  of  the  infinitely  little. 
The  small,  yielding  particles  of  invisible  air  are  the  same  that  work 
the  terrible  devastation  of  the  cyclone;  the  small  insects  in  the 
coral  have  built  up  islands  and  mountains  from  the  depths  of  the 
ocean.  The  grea't  works  of  men's  hands,  roads,  and  mines,  and 
canals,  and  cities,  are  the  result  of  so  many  infinitesimal  muscular 
exertions  in  countless  numbers,  organized  and  duly  directed  by 
a  few. 

So  it  is  with  God's  work  on  earth  through  His  Church,  the 
spiritual  work  in  souls  and  the  social  work  in  men's  outward  lives. 
Every  one  of  God's  faithful  followers  has  his  share  in  it ;  each  one's 
part  is  very  minute,  but  the  general  result  is  exceedingly  great.  We 
have  in  our  hands  all  the  elements  of  success.  Our  Church  may  be 
small  and  weak  in  places,  but  it  is  widely  diffused  through  the  whole 
earth,  and  it  is  highly  organized  for  action.  We  have  the  strength 
that  comes  from  unity,  being  bound  together  in  one  unvarying,  un- 
failing faith.  We  have  the  strength  that  comes  from  earnest  con- 
victions, possessing  as  we  do  an  absolute  confidence  in  our  infallible 
guide,  and  certainty  as  to  the  truth,  and  rectitude,  and  ultimate  suc- 
cess of  its  teachings.  And  above  all  this,  we  have  the  presence  and 
the  aid  of  God,  who  is  in  us  and  fights  with  us.  One  thing  remains 
only  to  be  supplied  on  our  side,  a  courageous  and  persevering  good 
will.  Under  these  conditions  we  are  bound  to  succeed  if  we  onlv 


CATHOLICS  THE  SALT  OF  THE  EARTH.       449 

try.  If  ever  there  has  been  failure,  in  any  country,  or  at  any  epoch, 
it  is  because  Catholics  have  not  been  true  to  themselves  and  to  God. 
Prove  yourselves,  then,  to  be  the  salt  of  the  earth,  and  labor  in- 
defatigably  at  the  work  which  in  consequence  devolves  upon  you. 
Be  staunch  to  your  principles,  have  the  courage  of  your  convictions, 
leave  no  good  undone  which  comes  in  your  way  and  demands  your 
efforts,  fear  no  consequences.  Advance  your  holy  religion  in  every 
way  you  can,  obey  its  teachings  rigidly,  never  be  ashamed  of  it. 
Seek  out  some  work  to  do  for  God,  try  every  day  to  carry  it  out,  en- 
deavor to  influence  for  good  every  one  you  come  across.  Above 
all,  pray  fervently  to  God,  and  invoke  the  most  powerful  intercession 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  the  saints.  So  will  your  days  be  full 
days,  and  your  lives  will  be  widely  useful ;  you  will  be  a  power  for 
good  in  the  world;  and  whether  you  see  your  success  before  your 
death  or  see  it  not,  you  can  not  fail  of  contributing  greatly  toward 
building  up  the  kingdom  of  God, 


450  THE    CREED. 


LIII.    LOYALTY  TO  THE  CHURCH. 

BY   THE  REV.    P     A.    HALPIN. 

SYNOPSIS.— The  need  of  Catholic  loyalty  to-day. 

I.  Loyalty  to   the  Church  is  a  duty.     Meaning  of  loyalty  in  its 
sense  of  mind  and  will  and  life  devotion  to  the  Church.     Why  a  duty 
and  among  duties  the  greatest. 

II.  Want  of  loyalty  is  cowardice.     How  and  why. 
HI.     Want  of  loyalty  is  essentially  criminal. 

Introductory. — Loyalty  to  the  Church!  Perhaps  now  more  than 
ever,  certainly  now  as  much  as  ever,  does  the  Catholic  need  to  be 
warned  that  temptations  to  disloyalty  are  many  and  violent,  and 
that  more  harm  is  worked  against  not  only  his  individual  faith,  but 
against  the  faith  at  large,  by  this  defect,  which,  be  it  either  trifling 
or  extreme  or  apparent  or  real,  pushes  its  victim  not  only  near  but 
in  so  many  lamentable  cases  over  the  precipice  of  infidelity.  Where 
loyalty  is  a  virtue  and  a  duty,  and  the  fulfilment  of  it  dearly  to  be 
cherished,  disloyalty  is  cowardice,  a  crime  and  the  beginning  of 
many  spiritual  disasters.  It  is  proposed  in  this  sermon  to  show 
that  loyalty  is  a  duty,  that  disloyalty  is  cowardice,  that  it  is  a  crime. 

I.  Loyalty  to  the  Church  is  a  duty.  The  natural  reasoning  of 
the  mind  as  well  as  the  voice  of  religion  proclaims  this.  We  call 
duty  that  obligation  which  can  not  be  evaded  without  going  counter 
to  principles  which  we  know  are  absolute,  without  opposing  laws 
which  are  founded  in  justice  and  emanate  from  a  superior  with  the 
right  to  command.  That  loyalty  to  Mother  Church  falls  into  the 
class  of  primal  duties  is  evidenced  by  a  mere  statement  of  its  mean- 
ing. In  general  what  is  understood  by  the  expression  loyalty?  It 
is  a  man's  attitude  toward  a  being  who  has  claims  upon  him  which 
may  not  be  questioned,  or  toward  an  institution  of  which  he  is  a 
member  and  to  which  he  is  pledged  by  ties  which  call  for  love  and 
gratitude  and  courage  and  protection.  That  being  may  be  God  or  it 
may  be  man.  That  institution  may  be  his  family,  his  country,  his 
Church.  So  peculiar  is  the  organization  of  his  Church  that  it  is  the 
family,  the  country,  the  home  of  his  soul.  Just  as  soul  transcends 
body,  just  as  spirit  is  above  matter,  just  as  eternity  is  more  than 


LOYALTY  TO   THE  CHURCH.  45 1 

time,  so  do  his  religious  ties  assume  a  value  and  an  importance  far 
above  any  which  can  attach  to  the  things  of  country  or  family  or 
friends. 

When,  then,  loyalty  to  Church  is  spoken  of  there  rises  in  our  con- 
ceptions the  notion  of  a  fidelity  which  is  greater  than  we  owe  to 
any  one  else,  than  we  owe  even  to  our  fireside  or  our  native  or 
adopted  land.  This  is  claiming  much,  but  not  more  than  reason  or 
justice  may  allow.  What  do  we  owe  to  our  land  or  our  home?  In 
the  first  place  compliance  with  all  the  laws  that  regulate  both.  There 
is  the  law  of  obedience  to  superiors,  the  law  of  charity  toward  our 
equals.  If  one  or  other  call  for  a  sacrifice,  we  are  to  make  it.  If 
one  or  other  call  for  protection,  we  are  to  give  it.  As  for  others, 
they  must  not  invade  home  or  country.  We  are  to  repel  in  the 
moment  of  danger  all  that  assails  rights  or  privileges  belonging  to 
either.  If  a  moment  strikes  when  the  jeopardizing  of  our  lives  be- 
comes a  necessity  we  are  to  be  found  at  our  posts  no  matter  how 
fraught  with  danger.  We  must  carry  them  in  our  thoughts  and  our 
affections.  We  must  throw  no  discredit  by  the  conduct  of  our  lives 
on  their  fair  name.  Their  reputation  must  be  as  dear  to  us  as  our 
own,  and  their  existence  must  we  cherish  as  we  cherish  the  individual 
life  which  is  ours.  This  every  man  claims  to  be  the  reasonable  posi- 
tion of  all  who  do  not  wish  to  be  accused  of  perfidy  or  cowardice 
or  crime. 

Now  has  our  church  the  right  to  our  loyalty,  which  nature  makes 
compulsory  where  there  is  question  of  fireside  and  native  land  ?  It 
would  seem  that  the  Church  has  this  right.  What  does  the  Church 
do  for  us  that  puts  her  on  a  level  with  the  time-honored  institutions 
of  home  and  country?  She  does  more  for  us  than  country  or 
home  has  done  or  could  do.  Her  origin  is  divine.  She  came  from 
the  hands  of  God  through  His  Christ,  dowered  with  a  more  than 
queenly  inheritance.  Her  mission  is  to  thrall  the  generations  of 
men.  She  came  when  mankind  was  in  a  welter  of  darkness  and 
passion.  She  came  to  perform  a  task  which  was  to  uplift  him 
from  the  slough  of  debasement  and  to  light  up  a  path  which  was  to 
lead  him  to  higher  and  better  things.  She  was  to  create  him  anew, 
not  changing  but  strengthening  his  nature,  and  to  stand  by  his  side 
from  the  moment  of  his  birth  until  that  of  his  death,  ministering  to 
all  his  spiritual  wants,  watching  over  him  until  life's  little  hour  was 
over  and  the  unending  day  of  eternity  began.  It  was  no  empty 
mission. 


452  THE    CREED. 

It  is  written  in  history,  it  is  inscribed  in  the  hearts  of  men  that 
she  brought  with  her  choicest  gifts  and  blessings  so  priceless  that 
without  them  life  would  have  no  meaning,  would  not  be  worth  the 
living.  She  has  been,  she  is  the  civilizer  of  the  world,  and  so  she 
will  continue  until  the  end,  for  Christ  will  be  with  her  unto  the  end 
of  time.  What  does  she  not  do  for  each  one  of  us  individually? 
for  our  minds?  for  our  hearts? 

Truth  is  the  richest  possession  of  human  intelligence,  and  the 
higher  the  bearings  of  the  truth  bequeathed  to  it  the  more  opulent 
becomes  the  inheritance.  There  are  three  things  concerning  which 
every  thinking  mind  is  anxious,  and  about  which  it  would  be  at  rest. 
Man  clamors  to  know  whence  he  came,  whither  he  is  going  and  by 
what  road  he  is  to  travel.  Your  Church  has  left  no  doubt  in  your 
minds  about  these  momentous  questions.  You  are  from  God.  She 
tells  you  in  tones  which  carry  conviction,  you  are  from  God.  Your 
origin  is  divine,  and  so  is  your  destiny  and  the  path  thither  is  clearly 
defined.  The  mind  thus  illumined,  there  remains  the  heart  to  be 
influenced.  She  teaches  the  heart  what  it  must  love  and  what  it 
must  hate.  She  directs  the  affections  toward  all  that  is  high  and 
immortal.  She  turns  all  the  hates  of  humanity  against  what  is 
unrighteous,  ignoble  and  empty. 

It  is  in  this  way  she  ennobles  character  and  fashions  men  and 
women  into  beings  who  challenge  the  admiration  of  time  and  of  the 
race.  In  her  sacramental  arms  she  enfolds  her  children,  regenerat- 
ing and  purifying  and  strengthening  them  for  all  the  tasks  of  life. 
She  holds  them  fast  in  their  dying  hour,  peacefully  closes  their 
weary  eyes  until  they  open  on  the  vision  which  the  eye  has  never 
seen,  whose  music  the  ear  has  never  heard  and  which  it  has  not 
entered  the  mind  of  man  to  conceive.  She  has  open  arms  and  a  heal- 
ing embrace  for  all  the  prodigals  of  humanity.  There  is  magic  in 
her  touch  and  in  the  elevation  of  the  individual  she  uplifts  the  en- 
tire human  family. 

What  do  all  these  benefactions  poured  so  lavishly  on  all  who 
are  desirous  of  them,  but  lay  the  basis  of  a  claim  which  compels  un- 
selfish loyalty  and  devotion.  From  the  beginning  there  has  been 
nothing  but  execration  for  the  ungrateful  child  or  the  recreant  citi- 
zen. No  crimes  are  written  so  deeply  and  darkly  in  the  annals  of  the 
world  as  those  committed  when  the  child  unnaturally  turns  against 
the  parent  or  when  the  soldier  flings  away  his  colors  or  plots  for 
the  dishonor  or  destruction  of  his  native  land.  Yet  the  Church  has 


LOYALTY  TO   THE  CHURCH.  453 

done  more  than  mother  or  father  for  her  children — more  than 
country  could  ever  do.  If  there  be  an  unwritten  law  against  matri- 
cide and  treason  there  is  an  universally  accepted  law  against  dis- 
loyalty to  Mother  Church.  The  very  divinity  of  her  origin,  the 
unequaled  martyrdom  of  her  Founder,  the  tenderness  of  her  love 
and  the  strength  of  her  protection,  all  these  proclaim  that  it  is  a 
duty,  primal  and  highest,  to  be  loyal  and  devoted  Catholics. 

Having  established  this  point  there  remains  to  consider  wherein 
this  loyalty  consists.  We  understand  that  loyalty  is  fidelity.  Here 
this  fidelity  means  being  true  to  the  Church,  which  is  identical  with 
saying  being  true  to  God.  It  means,  therefore,  a  surrender  of  every- 
thing within  us  to  which  the  Church  lays  claim.  It  means  a  sur- 
render of  all  that  we  have  and  are — a  surrender  of  our  minds  and 
of  our  liberty.  It  means  loyalty  of  our  reason,  of  our  will,  of 
our  life. 

Loyalty  of  reason.  This  great  prerogative,  which  distinguishes 
us  so  clearly  from  the  mere  animal,  becomes  sometimes  the  fiercest 
antagonist  of  faith.  We  pride  ourselves  upon  our  reason,  and  in 
this  pride  we  rebel  against  whatever  seems  to  contradict  it.  Our 
reason,  we  feel  prompted  to  say,  is  a  sufficient  guide  for  us.  It  is 
all  sufficing,  is  the  loudest  cry  of  the  rationalist.  It  is  not  necessary 
to  pause  in  order  to  point  out  how  this  so-called  principle,  that  the 
unaided  mind  is  potent  enough  to  direct  man  in  the  labyrinth  of 
existence,  has  been  a  fatal  one.  Let  us  consult  our  own  experience, 
let  us  advert  to  the  experience  of  the  past,  and  from  reflection  will 
emerge  the  ever  patent  fact  that  man  is  a  finite  being  and  that  his 
reason  has  its  limitations  just  as  numerous  and  just  as  humiliating 
as  any  of  his  other  faculties.  Loyalty  of  mind  binds  us  to  repudiate 
energetically  every  thought,  every  view,  every  opinion,  every  judg- 
ment that  is  not  in  harmony  with  the  teaching  of  the  Church. 

One  thing  we  know,  we  have  erred.  Another  thing  is  just  as 
positive,  the  Church  can  not  err.  Mind  loyalty  will  run  to  earth  and 
annihilate  every  doubt.  We  must  not  think,  we  must  not  admit  for 
one  voluntary  second,  even  a  suspicion,  concerning  the  doctrines 
of  the  Church.  This  is  loyalty  of  reason  in  its  fullest  expression. 
Its  chastity  is  so  sensitive  that  even  a  doubt  sullies  its  whiteness. 

Loyalty  of  mind  is  the  most  needed  nowadays.  It  is  the  corner- 
stone of  perfect  allegiance.  Have  we  the  mental  grasp  of  a  St. 
Paul?  Yet  he  exclaimed:  "Though  we  or  an  angel  from  heaven 
preached  a  gospel  to  you  besides  that  which  we  have  preached  to 


454  THE    CREED. 

you,  let  him  be  anathema."  Is  ours  the  intellectual  acumen  of  an 
Augustine?  Yet  he  declared  that  he  would  not  believe  in  the 
Scripture  were  it  not  for  the  authority  of  the  Church.  Throughout 
history  we  encounter  men  of  vast  understanding  and  rich  and 
varied  erudition  compelling  their  reason  to  its  knees  in  presence  of 
the  infallible  utterances  of  Mother  Church.  A  writer  whose  pen  has 
helped  much  to  portray  to  the  world  the  glories  of  the  Catholic  faith 
does  not  hesitate  to  affirm  that  among  the  proofs  of  her  divinity 
not  the  weakest  is  that  drawn  from  the  number  of  great  minds  which 
the  unity  of  the  Church's  doctrines  has  always  inclosed  within  her 
bosom.  For  eighteen  hundred  years  there  has  been  an  uninterrupted 
chain  of  learned  men  who  were  Catholics.  "I  see  the  illustrious  race 
still  continue  throughout  the  calamities  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
and  in  the  nineteenth  I  see  fresh  heroes,  who  after  having  followed 
errors  in  all  directions  come  to  hang  their  trophies  at  the  gates 
of  the  Catholic  Church.  What,  then,  is  this  prodigy?  Has  a  sect 
or  a  religion  like  it  ever  before  been  seen?  These  men  study 
everything,  dispute  on  everything,  reply  to  everything,  know  every- 
thing, but  always  agreeing  in  unity  of  doctrine  they  bend  their 
noble  and  intellectual  brows  in  respectful  obedience  to  faith.  Do 
we  not  seem  to  behold  another  planetary  system,  where  globes  of 
fire  revolve  on  their  vast  orbits  in  the  midst  of  immensity,  always 
drawn  to  their  center  by  a  mysterious  attraction  ?  That  central  force 
which  allows  no  aberration,  takes  from  them  nothing  of  their  extent 
or  of  the  grandeur  of  their  movement,  but  it  inundates  them  with 
light  while  giving  to  their  motion  a  more  majestic  regularity." 

What  have  we  pigmies  to  allege  as  excuse  for  our  doubts  or  in- 
sinuations, perhaps  our  denials,  when  confronted  by  the  acquiescence 
of  men  of  such  intellectual  stature?  While  this  faith  loyalty  is  not 
all  of  which  true  fealty  to  Mother  Church  is  compacted,  it  takes  the 
initiative,  and  without  it  the  whole  edifice  totters.  If  we  do  not  be- 
lieve with  the  Church,  then,  all  loyalty  is  out  of  the  question.  This 
is  too  elementary  to  call  for  elucidation.  If  I  do  not  believe  I  can 
not  worship  or  love  or  obey. 

Man  has  another  faculty  which  must  be  impregnated  with  this 
spirit  of  loyalty.  Man's  will,  just  as  everything  in  man,  must  be 
swayed  by  the  authority  of  the  Church.  Man  must  not  only  think, 
but  must  also  will  as  his  faith  dictates.  Not  his  mind  only  must 
he  bend,  but  his  knees  as  well.  The  religion  which  he  professes  is 
not  a  theoretical  one.  Mere  theory  is  not  religion.  Religion  must 


LOYALTY  TO   THE  CHURCH.  455 

be  practical.  It  must  show  him  how  to  act.  How  noble  faith  is 
when  applied  to  the  exigencies  of  human  every-day  action,  how 
elevating  it  is  in  its  effects  upon  all  man's  relations  toward  himself, 
toward  his  neighbor  and  toward  God  is  the  most  luminous  char- 
acteristic of  your  faith. 

Can  you  conceive  character  more  sublimely  fashioned  than  that 
which  is  molded  by  the  tenets  of  your  Church?  What  men,  what 
women  have  moved  on  such  a  high  plane  as  those  whom  your  re- 
ligion has  placed  upon  our  altars?  Besides  the  saints,  whose  halo 
is  visible,  how  innumerable  is  the  army  of  hidden  heroes  who  since 
the  day  of  the  Resurrection  have  followed  in  the  footsteps  of 
Catholic  teaching.  A  living  monstrosity  is  he  who  believes  that 
holiness  is  the  best  gift  of  the  Church,  who  knows  how  holiness  is 
generated  and  sustained,  yet  prefers  to  walk  on  lower  levels  where 
the  spirit  of  man  dies  and  the  passions  hold  fierce  sway.  Such  an 
one  is  a  contradiction,  set  up  for  his  own  ruin  and  the  ruin  of 
many.  Such  an  one  is  a  misfit  in  the  beautiful  economy  of  the 
Church.  Such  an  one  is  feeding  on  husks.  Such  an  one  is  flinging 
a  crown  and  a  scepter  and  an  inheritance  away  for  a  handful  of 
dross,  for  a  dream,  for  a  nightmare.  Can  there  be  any  love  in  his 
heart  for  the  mother  in  whose  embrace  he  professes  to  be  held? 
Such  a  career  is  a  career  of  disloyalty,  harmful  to  himself  and  his 
Church.  There  is  no  Catholic  loyalty  without  Catholic  living.  Such 
a  man  can  not  plead  weakness,  for  his  Church  not  only  dictates  the 
method  of  his  life,  but  furnishes  him  with  the  means  of  ordering 
his  ways  as  his  Church  dictates.  Such  disloyalty  is  traceable  chiefly 
to  perversity  of  will.  How  much  he  flings  away.  The  whole  realm 
of  purity  and  honesty  and  honor  is  his  for  the  willing  of  it,  and  he 
lets  it  slip  from  his  holding.  Yes,  Catholic  living  is  the  sure  test 
of  Catholic  loyalty.  It  appeals  to  what  is  best  in  the  man,  as  it 
develops  what  is  noblest.  If  the  heathen  of  old  was  inexcusable 
because  he  refused  worship  to  the  one  true  God,  how  much  more 
inexcusable  the  Catholic  who  refuses  to  shape  his  conduct  and 
by  unblemished  integrity  of  his  existence  refuses  to  pay  a  right- 
ful tribute  to  the  omnipotent  influence  of  his  religion.  This  is  our 
understanding  of  the  loyalty  which  is  every  Catholic's  bounden 
duty  to  manifest  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  his  sojourn  on 
earth. 

II.  Disloyalty  has  been  stigmatized  as  cowardice  and  crime. 
There  is  a  strain  of  cowardice  in  all  dereliction  of  duty,  no  matter 


456  THE   CREED. 

how  reckless  the  individual  may  be.  There  are  cowards  and 
cowards.  The  one  most  covered  with  the  contempt  and  ridicule  of 
men  is  the  moral  coward,  for  the  simple  reason  that  for  such  de- 
generacy he  has  himself  alone  to  blame.  He  shrinks  from  the 
open  profession  of  his  creed  because  he  is  not  brave  enough  to  face 
the  senseless  opinions  of  his  fellows.  His  cowardice  is  that  of  a 
false  shame  which  arises  from  the  most  inexcusable  kind  of  ignor- 
ance. His  Church  is  the  depository  of  divine  truth,  it  is  gifted 
with  inerrancy  in  matters  of  doctrine  and  morals,  it  is  the  bulwark 
of  private  and  public  integrity,  it  is  the  grandest  and  most  beneficent 
visitant  which  this  world  has  ever  glimpsed,  its  history  is  ablaze 
with  luminous  and  marvelous  deeds,  springing  from  a  purity,  an 
honesty,  a  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  a  spirit  of  missionary  zeal  which 
have  startled  all  the  generations  of  men  in  modern  times.  It  is  the 
glory  of  humanity. 

The  denial,  therefore,  of  membership  in  such  a  religion  is  a 
bartering  away  of  what  is  splendid  and  noble  through  fear  of  a 
cynical  smile  or  a  scoffing  sneer  or  an  ignorant  jeer,  and  must  cer- 
tainly be  stamped  as  an  act  of  servility,  as  a  cringing  to  what  is 
worthless,  as  a  poltroonry  which  deserves  only  pity  and  scorn. 
Base,  indeed,  is  the  son  who  through  intimidation  of  any  kind 
repudiates  the  mother,  whose  tenderness  toward  her  children  has 
never  been  surpassed  or  equaled.  Instead  of  the  blush  of  shame 
mounting  your  cheeks  for  that  you  are  Catholics,  it  should  be 
your  proudest  pride  to  be  numbered  among  her  adherents — a  privi- 
lege which  you  should  glory  in  with  an  enthusiasm  and  a  gladness 
above  every  other  enthusiasm  and  gladness. 

One  only  attitude  can  you  assume  toward  your  Church,  the  atti- 
tude of  a  loyalty  which  will  make  your  life  so  grand  that  no 
thought,  no  word,  no  action  of  yours  shall  ever  bow  her  head  in 
shame  for  that  you  are  one  of  her  children.  Yours  should  be  a 
loyalty  that  would  suppress  every  tendency  to  lose  courage  in  the 
fight  which  you  are  called  upon  to  make  with  her  against  the  world, 
the  devil  and  the  flesh.  Suppress  every  tendency  which  should 
weaken  your  determination  to  make  every  sacrifice  in  her  behalf — 
yes,  every  sacrifice,  even  the  sacrifice  of  life  itself. 

III.  That  loyalty  is  a  virtue,  the  fulfilment  of  a  God-given 
duty  is  clear.  Clear,  too,  is  it  that  the  cowardice  which  im- 
pels you  to  refuse  an  open  profession  of  your  faith  when  called 
upon  to  do  so,  is  flagitious  and  unpardonable,  because  such  dis- 


LOYALTY  TO   THE  CHURCH. 


457 


loyalty  is  a  sin,  amenable  to  condemnation  here  and  hereafter. 
Most  assuredly  disloyalty  is  a  crime  which  finds  itself  by  its  very 
nature  in  the  category  of  the  most  heinous  offenses.  Disloyalty  to 
your  faith  is  disloyalty  to  God  and  to  His  Christ.  As  a  crime  it  has 
all  the  blackness  of  ingratitude.  As  a  crime  it  is  a  sin  against  the 
Holy  Spirit — a  sin  against  all  the  inspirations  of  heaven — a  sin 
against  the  light — an  impugning  of  the  known  truth.  It  may  not 
in  every  case  be  all  this,  but  beyond  a  doubt,  no  matter  how  trifling 
the  repudiation  may  be,  if  there  be  anything  trifling  in  these  mat- 
ters, it  implies  them  all — it  certainly  leads  to  them  all.  Every  sin 
bears  in  its  bosom  the  spirit  of  rebellion  against  the  Creator:  this 
one  sin  is  rebellion  carried  to  the  excess  of  treason.  The 
criminal  essence  of  disloyalty  is  so  evident  that  argument  is  un- 
necessary. So  criminal  is  it  that  it  is  branded  by  a  special  con- 
demnation. It  is  the  one  sin  that  is  punished  by  a  counter  repudia- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  Christ,  the  plenipotentiary  of  the  Father, 
who  will  deny  before  that  Father  all  who  have  refused  to  confess 
Him  before  men.  It  follows,  as  the  day  the  night,  that  it  is  incum- 
bent on  us  to  study  our  attitude  toward  the  Church.  It  is  well  for 
us  to  judge  ourselves — to  ask  ourselves  some  questions  which  are 
very  pertinent. 

Is  our  attitude  one  of  loyalty  and  devotion?  Is  our  faith  the 
highest  in  our  thoughts  and  deepest  in  our  hearts.  It  has  created  a 
standard  of  living.  Are  our  lives  being  shaped  accordingly?  Is 
our  morality  derived  from  the  inspirations  of  that  faith?  Are  our 
thoughts  thought,  our  judgments  framed,  our  words  uttered,  our 
actions  performed  in  consonance  with  its  teachings?  Have  we 
tutored  our  wills  to  accept  readily  and  unconditionally  all  the  truths 
it  proposes  for  our  acceptance.  Are  we  proud  of  our  religion?  Is 
it  as  much  to  us,  or  rather  is  it  more  to  us  than  home  or  country? 
Is  it  in  our  eyes  our  chief est  possession?  This  examination  of  con- 
science will  reveal  to  us  our  position.  Is  there  any  need  of 
exhortation?  Should  it  be  necessary  to  remind  you  of  what  value 
your  faith  is  to  you  ?  Should  it  be  needful  to  ask  you  to  be  loyal  to 
your  Church,  when  that  loyalty  means  loyalty  to  yourself  and  to 
your  best  and  most  momentous  and  most  lasting  interests? 

Be  loyal  to  your  Church,  and  you  will  be  faithful  to  your  home 
and  your  native  land  and  to  all  the  ties  which  bind  you  to  your 
fellowmen.  Out  of  our  loyalty  will  be  begotten  gratitude,  en- 
thusiasm, courage,  self-conquest,  humility  and  all  the  virtues  which 


45 8  THE    CREED. 

make  for  peace  and  happiness  and  devotion  and  good  will  to  all. 
Useless  to  tell  you  that  the  measure  of  your  loyalty  to  your  Church 
is  the  measure  of  your  Church's  loyalty  to  you — a  loyalty  which  is 
the  tenderest  affection  watching  over  you  in  all  the  vicissitudes  of 
life  and  smoothing  your  death  pillow,  and  lighting  up  the  grave 
and  opening  the  gates  of  Paradise. 


PXtl 

h  in  Him  5 

aunivc! 

RENEWS   ftiANX1  MEMORIES, 

L-O.VY     ol 


which    li:'l- 
of    thank.-  - 

Prayer,   the     ^r.-n-..     ,.r      .l'cj;<Mitanc<».    the 

and  Bl  •-.,:,. 

namU  I-     How  many.    by   the  p<. 
-\Hai,  Q    won    -.iiit 

•]  ief,  or  the  mi- 

takon  con- 

.    to     the     kn<  |      i  he     Ones 

.•,   to  the  practice  of    L'IC  Urn* 
t<>   tin-  ;;ii    of    the    One    lid  : 

ii   church,    whi.'li    ov. 

men;  ,      and     it  •; 
i,    and    liir    from    day    to    day    and 

!  il    alU]    .-.' 


Ln- 
of 
is- 

\\  n 
i\  e 


were  to  bo 

wished      P 
adulterated,   uncornic  '    that 

generation  slum' 

swers  "to  genuine   <loi.  ns — if 

Fit-   wished    that    it    sh  ;  T    and   bo 

applied  to  the  chuntfinK  intellectual  and 
practical  circumstances  of  a  changing 
world,  it  i\as  absolutely  necessary  that  JU 
should  iet  ut> 

A  LASTING  KINGDOM  OF  TRUTH 
—n  Society  renewed  a*  the  years  wci 
with   eye-.,  a   mind,  and  a   tongue  to  speak. 
Tliis  Society  was  to  make  beliei  clear,  die- 


its  most. 
fnonds   who    know    it 


ous  flock,  and  I  ha 
tikis  church    is  only 


'.:>{  an  embodiment.  <-f  tin-  im-at 
("nivorse.    tin 


Church   of  <  hriet.  .M-<| uired.  by    Him    in  t;>" 
shedding  of  His   Blo<xl,  the  pledge  an<l  tlio 

j_          THOSE   INESTIMABLE  RICHES, 

e  by  which  the  human   race  is  made  un.sur- 
>ly   rich    in   Tfiiu.       This  is  the  mean- 
flic  Catholic  Church.      We  arc  wdl 
r-   n\are    til  ah    this        ideal        of    the    Catholic 
.'hiirc.li    is    not     received    in    thi-    country. 
They    will    tell    you    that     they    do    not     pc- 
mowled^e   a   church    in  our   sense,    bi  can  .-<: 
hey  are  loath  t.o  acknowledge  any  in' 
liary  between  th.  HI   ."  nd  _\h. 

jodl     This   is   a  >.r,ociou-    ; 

There  are  two  v  ays  in 


ting 
and 

thed 

i  we 
bird 

the 

.{utioii  01   a  person  may  be  ;m  int-  r-  Lohle 
jK'diary— as  an  obstruct iuu  aond  as  a  vi;a!    -this. 


and 
int- 

ml 

Lj.,.1         i    ;i;s    •"""""'*      '••i-'     I--     '-'  ,     , 

FnV     t-nct.  and  de-fin  rte.  s..  that   men   nn-l)t    not 
„,!   about    in   douUt  like  ships   m    a 
ffh« Utormv  sea.      It  was  to  unite  men   in  woi- 
,  ,!,.     6hip,   so    that,    their    pielv     and       i 
•'t    -hnuld  pxpiv^s  their    faith— the   true 

and  not  error  or  half  the  truth.      Tt  ua«  to 
..,11   men   to  a   dispensalion   of  Sacra- 
Jh>    nient,    to    whose  external   ritual    He  alone 
could   eommuni.'aic    vitality   and    efficacy 
\nd  if  any  man  should   not  belong  to  tf 
ix>dv  or  Society  his  faith  would   be   D 
phantom,  because  it  would  be  mere  h 
minion,    his     worship,  would    'M-    ^>>-™- 
'II',.  nreacber,  prooeeding,  said— fliere  ai« 
v«rr  few  educated   non-Catholica    *1 

days,  do  not   hear  something  of  ( 
tholieisni       They  must    be   aw.-uv    thai    n«» 
;    noiH  atholic    body.   Church   of  England  or 
*     Xon.  «•«"    «»i    ll-    princio, 

finitely  decide  what    is   right  and    v 
wrong"  in   faith  or  practice.      T   do   not 
these  bales  do    not    teach    and    men    ad- 
herents do  not.sometiines,  or  even 


of   communication.    A\rh. 

•ity  would  bring 

lie  hills  to  it     n\vn   heart,  it    ^s  not   • 

i»  should  make  ;I  -n>at  reservoir  amon^ 

mount.ai-OH;    it   must    also    lay    a    ^i-:.-!t 

through    tho  difetanco    thai    inter- 

ran    dispense    with    channels. 

;nHu<    it    is  certain  in  the  Old  Tc-,tam"nt  ;md 

.^tlie  New.  in  tin;   Incarnation  in  the  minis- 

try, in  the  Sacraments,  in  t.he  .ureat   oj 

lStiun  of  HIH  \Vi:t-d.  in  tlie  touch  of  Hi-  v 

>gJ««r-Working  Han-l  rf^uhuly 

ijian     "iii'  "  -     "f    anneN  n  : 

me.   and,    i 

THE      DISPENSATION      OF      THE      IN- 
CABNATION 

•iiidilil-'.  that  Jhs 
nu»h  that  very 
in!  men. 

l 


hereiits  <lo   nor    some      M  .-,   v.        •  -  v    .- 
rally  accept.      But  on  their  own  priiicip'«» 

CNO  AUTHORITY    OR    TRIBUNAL 

whose  decision  is  in  the .  la-t  IT-. 

.,11    their    bo<Hes    individual    opnnon  i« 
ft!*   last    appeal,    aid    that    means    chaos. 
Tt   dot-   not   mean   that    a  congregation 
This    Bath     London,  or  Brighton  m;> 

on   ihe  whole  in  what  they  pn-te^  or     hat 
'  '  ,  tho    rank   and    file   of    the    Ritualists     His 
Chnrch.   Low  Church,  Braid  Jh  mh    \\    ~ 
leyane,    Baptists,   or    ludcp 

fo'llov  ',!,:t\. 

roil   look  abroad  on   iiniy 
over  MLO  whole  world,   there  is  no  . 
-test    dellde.      If  v-ou  look 
.nst     hav«  pa- 

(|(.,.         .  .         '-.  I'...  -    •  i/l    t  n    tl'. 

the 

i  cy 
iu- 

tly 

er. 


,e  vo 

%«»ed  th«r«   ha*  beet-    ..o  on.   U,  d 
dde     ,f  vou  look  forward  to  thj 
i      ..'.me  there   is   n 
l"\\-\     i  of  Chri 


, 

instituted    .1    visible 
ly  ci.mposed  of  n:eii,  recoRnieablc  as 
only  ohnrch,  renewing  itself  I 

charged  i  •'  certain 

body     t"     lie     believed,   ' 

made   use   «,f    lhal     men  s 

i-ed.      Christianity 
h-ht  thai   ebouW  always 

]:,.   w«-,rld.  and   o    lifiht   1; 


Mind        Having  quoted  mstaBces  rroni   tho 

illiivti-i.f  -  ibijitv 

n  eould  ^oo  (In 

thougn 

;'hnrch,    ^hich  "    t''"1'! 

,w   through   tho  Septuagint 


i         ,  i. 

vS   ^ 

did  (  hm     o    ' 

the  nai 


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